HMS Coquette was launched in 1807 and spent her naval career patrolling in the Channel and escorting convoys. In 1813 she engaged an American privateer in a notable but inconclusive single-ship action. The Navy put Coquette in ordinary in 1814 and sold her in 1817. She became a whaler and made five whaling voyages to the British southern whale fishery before she was lost in 1835 on her sixth.
Coquette was the second ship in a class of two sloops; her sister ship was HMSTalbot, the name ship for the class. Both were enlarged versions of the Cormorant-class ship-sloop. In 1811 the Admiralty re-rated Talbot and Coquette as 20-gun post ships.[4]
Royal Navy service
Commander Robert Forbes commissioned Coquette for the Channel in June 1807. An announcement of his appointment to Coquette described her as "the fins and largest sloop in the British Navy".[5]
On 19 November 1807, Coquette recovered the English brig Amazon, which was carrying a cargo of hemp.[6]Amazon, Birkley, master, had been sailing from Petersburg to Plymouth when two French privateers captured her off the Isle of Wight. Coquette recaptured Amazon and sent her into Portsmouth, where Amazon arrived on 2 December.[7][lower-alpha 2]
On 26 October 1807, Tsar Alexander I of Russia declared war on Great Britain. The official news did not arrive there until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports. Coquette was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the proceeds of the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate Speshnoy (Speshnyy), and the Russian storeship Wilhelmina (or Vilghemina) then in Portsmouth harbour.[10] The Russian vessels were carrying the payroll for Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin’s squadron in the Mediterranean.[11][lower-alpha 3]
On 23 October 1808, Coquette was in company with Daring when they captured the French privateer Espiegle.[13]
Forbes was promoted to post captain on 21 October 1810, the fifth anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar.[14] Commander George Hewson replaced Forbes in November.[4]
On 12 July a vessel arrived at Leith that Coquette had detained as the vessel was sailing from Archangel.[15]
On 16 November HMSChanticleer took possession of the derelict vessel Haabet near the Dogger Bank. Haabet, of near 800 tons burthen, Jannsen, master, had lost her main and mizzen mast and was waterlogged. Her crew had abandoned her. She had been bringing timber from Memel. Two days later Coquette took Haabet into Leith, arriving on 21 November.[16]
Between January and May 1812 Coquette was undergoing fitting at Woolwich. In March Captain Thomas Bradby assumed command. In May, Captain John Simpson replaced Bradby.
When news of the outbreak of the War of 1812 reached Britain, the Royal Navy seized all American vessels then in British ports. Coquette was among the Royal Navy vessels then lying at Spithead or Portsmouth and so entitled to share in the grant for the American ships Belleville, Janus, Aeos, Ganges and Leonidas seized there on 31 July 1812.[17][lower-alpha 4]
On 20 November Coquette sailed from Portsmouth with a convoy bound for the West Indies.
On 11 March 1813 Coquette was a little to windward of Suriname. At 6 o'clock in the morning she encountered a schooner. Simpson lured the schooner closer by sailing like a merchantman. The schooner opened fire at 9a.m. with a 32-pounder gun that outranged Coquette's guns. Coquette was finally able to engage at about 10:30a.m. She discovered that the schooner, which flew an American flag, was armed with 14 guns, plus the 32-pounder, and had a crew of over 100 men. In the engagement the vessels exchanged broadsides and both sustained damage. It appeared that the American might strike her flag, but instead she took to her sweeps and escaped as the wind was too weak for Coquette to pursue. Coquette had four men wounded, two of whom later died.[19]
The American privateer was General Armstrong. Her captain later reported that she had suffered six men killed and 16 wounded in the engagement.
Lloyd's List reported on 21 May 1813 that General Armstrong's long gun was a 42-pounder, and that she had a crew of 140 men. It also reported, incorrectly, that her captain (Guy R. Champlin), had been killed.[20]
On 20 July, Coquette was in company with Cressy, Frolic, and Mercury at the capture of the American ship Fame.[21]
Disposal: The Navy placed Coquette in Ordinary at Woolwich in 1814. The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the "Coquette sloop, of 484 tons", lying at Deptford, for sale on 30 January 1817.[22] She finally sold for £1,090 on 30 April to a Mr. Ismay.[4]
Mercantile service
Coquette became a whaler, sailing for a sequence of owners. Coquet first appeared in Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping in 1818 with J. (or T.) Moore, master, Rains, owner, and trade London–South Seas.[1][2][lower-alpha 5]
1st whaling voyage (1817–1818): Captain Joseph Moore sailed in 1817. Coquette returned on 7 November 1819 with 600 casks of whale oil.[3]
2nd whaling voyage (1820–1823): Captain King sailed on 9 June 1820, bound for Peru. On 22 January 1821 Coquette and Globe, of Nantucket, spoke in the Eastern Pacific. Captain Phillips of Coquette reported that Captain King had taken ill and returned to London. Phillips, the chief mate, had assumed command.[3]
On 14 August 1821 10 of the 12 men in a landing party from Coquette were massacred at Hanamenu on the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands. They had the misfortune to arrive as a local war commenced and one side assumed they were enemy.[23]HMSDauntless was sent to investigate and exact reprisals.[24]
Between 9 and 30 October 1822 Coquette was at Honolulu after having fished off the coast of Japan. She returned to England on 18 April 1823 with 600 casks of whale oil.[3]
3rd whaling voyage (1823–1826): Captain John Stavers sailed from England on 2 November 1823.[lower-alpha 6]Coquette was at the Moluccas on 29 March 1824, on the coast of Japan in June–July, and at Timor in September.[3]
While Coquette was at Guam in 1825 Stavers entered into a dispute with the Spanish governor there. The governor did not acknowledge Stavers's invitation to fight, but in the evening a party of the governor's guards lured Stavers into an ambush and murdered him.[25] Some accounts state that the Governor executed Stavers for "drunken riotous behavior".[26] Captain Spencer replaced Stavers.[3]
Coquette returned to England on 1 September 1826 with 550 casks or 2600 barrels.[3]
Lloyd's Register for 1827 showed Coquette as having undergone repairs in 1827, and her master changing from Buckle to Thornton. It also showed her owner as Deacon & Co. The Register of Shipping for 1827 showed Coquette's master changing from Phillips to Thornton, and her owner still as Gale & Co.
4th whaling voyage (1827–1829): Captain Thornton sailed from England on 31 August 1827. By 9 September Coquette was at Madeira. She returned to England on 19 October 1829.[3]
A suit by the ship's cooper on her return reveals that her owners for the voyage were Bicknell, Deacon (managing owner), and Thorton (also the commander). The voyage had proved particularly valuable and the plaintiff's 1⁄90th share was £141 14s 8d. Advances and deductions reduced the net to £37 16s 7d.[27]
5th whaling voyage (1830–1832): Captain Thornton sailed on 20 April 1830, bound for the Indian Ocean. On 3 July 1832 Coquette was at Mauritius, sailing for London. She returned to London on 10 October 1832.[3]
Loss
Captain Thornton sailed Coquette from London on 12 December 1832 on her 6th whaling voyage, bound for the Pacific Ocean. On 16 January 1834 she was at New Ireland. In February she was at Bayenwall Island (near the Isle de Santa Cruz).[3] The Sydney Herald reported on 28 July 1834 that natives of one of the islands of New Guinea had speared a boat's crew belonging to Coquette, 12 months out of London.[28]
Lloyd's List reported on 13 June 1837 that Coquette had not been heard of since July 1835, when another whaler had spoken to her off the coast of Japan. At the time, Coquette had 1700 barrels of whale oil. Another report had Coquette lost at Guam on 4 November 1835.[3] The fate of the vessel was still unknown in 1846 when the family of one of the crewmen sought news of his fate.[29]
Notes
↑ Lloyd's Register,[1] the Register of Shipping,[2] and records based on them,[3] give Coquette's launch place as The King's Yard, Deptford. The naval dockyard at Deptford was the place of purchase when the Navy sold Coquette.
↑ Amazon, of 186 tons burthen, had been launched in 1801 at Howdon.[8] The prize money accruing to a seaman on Coquette was £2 10s.[9]
↑ Consequently, a seaman on any one of the 70 British vessels received 14s 7½d in prize money.[12]
↑ An ordinary seaman received 4s 1d; the Commander in Chief received £230 10s 8d.[18]
HMS Eclipse was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John King at Dover and launched in 1807. She served off Portugal and then in the Indian Ocean at the capture of the Île de France. Shortly thereafter she captured Tamatave. She was sold for mercantile service in 1815. She traded with India until 1823. Then between 1823 and 1845 she made seven voyages as a whaler.
HMS Talbot was a British Royal Navy 18-gun sloop-of-war built by James Heath & Sons, of East Teignmouth, and launched in 1807. Perhaps her greatest accomplishment was the reversal of the liberation of Iceland that the colorful, erratic, former Royal Navy seaman and privateer Jørgen Jørgensen had carried out. Talbot was sold in 1815 for mercantile service. Renamed George, she interspersed several voyages to Ceylon and India with three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1831.
HMS Charybdis was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Mark Richards and John Davidson at Hythe, and launched in 1809. She captured two American prizes during the War of 1812 before she was laid up in 1815 and sold in 1819. She apparently then became the whaler Greenwich, which made three voyages for Samuel Enderby & Sons and one for Daniel Bennett & Son. She was wrecked in the Seychelles in 1833 on her fourth whaling voyage.
Ronco was a French Illyrien or Friedland-class brig built at Venice and launched in April 1808. HMS Unite captured her less than two months later. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Tuscan. She served in the Mediterranean and participated in one action that earned her crew a Naval General Service Medal. She was first offered for sale in 1816 and sold in 1818. At that time mercantile interests purchased her and she became a whaler, making six voyages before being condemned as no longer seaworthy in March 1840 and sold in April during her seventh voyage.
Nettuno was a French Illyrien or Friedland-class brig built at Venice and launched in June 1807. HMS Unite captured her a year later off Zara. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Cretan. She served in the Mediterranean. She was sold in 1814. Between 1815 and 1831 she made five voyages as a whaler.
HMS Kangaroo was an 18-gun sloop of the Royal Navy launched in 1805. The Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whaler Countess of Morley. After three whaling voyages she became a merchantman. She may have been condemned c.1827; she was last listed in 1833.
Serpent was a French navy brig of the Palinure class, launched in 1807 at Paimbeouf (Nantes) as Rivolli, but renamed. HMS Acasta captured her in 1808 in the Caribbean and the British Royal Navy took her into service there as HMS Pert but renamed her Asp. The navy disposed of her in 1814. She then made five voyages as a whaler, and wrecked in December 1828 on her sixth voyage.
Perseverance was launched on the Thames in 1801. She then spent her entire career of 16 voyages as a whaler. Early in her career a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. Perseverance would herself later capture a vessel too. She was broken up in 1841.
Emma was a merchant vessel launched at Calcutta in 1809 that in 1810 served as a government armed ship in the British invasion of Île de France. In 1811 she sailed to England where she was sold. She then became a transport and later a whaler. Between 1815 and 1853 she made 11 whaling voyages. She was then sold and became a merchantman on the England-Australia run. Between 1851 and 1853 she made one more whaling voyage to the South Seas fisheries. She then returned to the England-Australia trade. In 1857 her home port became Hull, and she became a Greenland whaler, though that role may have begun as early as 1855. She was converted in 1864 to a screw steamer but was lost in April while seal hunting.
HMS Inspector was launched in 1801 at Mistley as the mercantile Amity. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and named her HMS Inspector. The Navy laid her up in 1808 before selling her in 1810. She then returned to mercantile service. Between 1818 and 1825 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She returned to mercantile service and was last listed in 1833 as being at Falmouth.
Norfolk was built in France in 1784 under a different name. The British captured her c. 1800 and she made some voyages as a West Indiaman. She also made a cruise as a privateer. Between 1803 and 1808 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense and hired armed ship on the Leith Station. She spent her time escorting convoys in the North Sea and captured one French privateer. After her naval service, between 1808 and 1814 Norfolk was a London-based transport. From 1814 to 1820 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
Royal George was launched in 1803 as a brig for the Revenue Service. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Bustard. She served on active duty between 1808 and 1815, distinguishing herself in operations in the Mediterranean. She then sailed to the West Indies. The Royal Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whaler Royal George. She made three whaling voyages and was lost in 1825 on her fourth.
Charlton, was built in America. She first appeared in British-origin online records in 1803. She made three complete voyages as a whaler. She was on her fourth voyage when the U.S. Navy captured her. After her captors released her she returned to England and then disappears from easily accessible online records.
Policy was launched at Dartmouth in 1801. She was a whaler that made seven whaling voyages between 1803 and 1823. On her second whaling voyage, in 1804, she was able to capture two Dutch vessels. On her fourth voyage the United States Navy captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She was lost at Tahiti in 1824 on her eighth whaling voyage.
Venus was launched at Deptford in 1788 and made 15 voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Of 812 whalers in the British southern whale fishery database for which there was data, she had the fifth highest number of whaling voyages. She was last listed in 1823.
Partridge was built at Antwerp in 1813, under another name, and was taken in prize. From 1814 she was under British ownership. Between 1814 and 1822 she traded with India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler, making three voyages to the British southern whale fishery before she was broken up in 1834.
Harriet was launched at Calcutta, between 1793 and 1795. Between 1795 and 1801 she made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and was chartered for use as a transport for a naval campaign that was cancelled. She became a transport and then in 1817 made another voyage to India, this time under a license from the EIC. She then became a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery, making seven complete whaling voyages and being lost c.1841 on her eighth.
Thames was a Spanish vessel launched in 1804, almost certainly under a different name, and captured circa 1805. She became a whaler, making eight whaling voyages between 1805 and 1826. Although the registers carried Thames for some years after her return from her eighth voyage, there is no evidence that she ever sailed again.
Zephyr was a vessel built in the United States that the Royal Navy captured in late 1813. Between 1814 and 1840, when she was lost, she made eight voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery.
HMS Inspector was launched at Wivenhoe in 1782 as the only vessel built to her design. She participated in one campaign and also captured a handful of small merchant vessels before the Navy sold her in 1802. Most notably, her crew participated in the mutiny at the Nore. After her sale, she became the whaler Inspector. She made six complete voyages to the British southern whale fishery. A Chilean privateer captured her in May 1819. Eventually she was condemned as unseaworthy at Santander in 1821.
References
Dalton, William (1990). The Dalton Journal: Two Whaling Voyages to the South Seas, 1823-1829. National Library of Australia. ISBN0642105057.
Beale, Thomas (1839). The Natural History of the Sperm Whale: To which is Added a Sketch of a South-Sea Whaling Voyage, in which the Author was Personally Engaged. J. Van Voorst.
Richards, Rhys (March 1993). "Rongotute, Stivers and "Other Visitors" to New Zealand "Before Captain Cook"". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 102 (1): 7–38. JSTOR20706490.
Tredrea, John; Sozaev, Eduard (2010). Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696–1860. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-84832-058-1.
Tyrwhitt, Robert Philip (1837). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Courts of Exchequer and Exchequer Chamber: Temp. Lord Lyndurst, with Tables of Cases and Principal Matters ... R. T. Davis.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN9781861762467.
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