 Dauntless | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Dauntless |
| Builder | Deptford Dockyard |
| Launched | 20 December 1808 |
| Commissioned | July 1809 |
| Decommissioned | October 1823 |
| Fate | Sold 1825 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Cormorant-class ship-sloop |
| Tons burthen | 42266⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m) |
| Depth of hold | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Sail plan | Ship |
| Complement | 121 |
| Armament |
|
The second HMS Dauntless was a Cormorant-class ship-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1808. She was sold in 1823.
Dauntless was built in Deptford Dockyard as a Cormorant-class ship-sloop.
She was launched on 20 December 1808 and commissioned in July 1809 under Commander Josiah Wittman. Her first service was in November 1809, when she escorted a convoy to the African coast. Wittman died in January 1810. His replacement, in May 1810, was Commander Daniel Barber. [1]
She returned in early 1810 and on 15 June sailed for Archangel. In the autumn of 1811 she was sent to the Cork Station. she remained on the Irish station in 1812 and 1813.
Still, on 16 May 1812, Dauntless arrived at Portsmouth from Jamaica. She had left there on 31 March, escorting a convoy of 32 vessels. On 29 April she parted from them at 35°15′N56°58′W / 35.250°N 56.967°W in a gale. [2]
On 3 December 1813 a gale dismasted the transport Phoenix, Heller, master, at 46°2′N9°9′W / 46.033°N 9.150°W as she was sailing from Portsmouth to the Cape of good Hope. Dauntless came upon Phoenix on 5 December and took her in tow, arriving at Plymouth on 18 December. [3] Also on 6 December, Dauntless came upon Renown, Mait, master, at 45°19′N9°54′W / 45.317°N 9.900°W , also dismasted. Barber had to leave Renown as Dauntless was towing Phoenix. However, Renown, which had been sailing from London to Bahia, was able to make her way to The Downs. [4]
After refitting at Portsmouth in early 1814 she served on the Newfoundland Station. On 22 May Dauntless and Cyane were in company when they recaptured Aeolus. [Note 1]
Dauntless shared in the proceeds of the capture, between 29 November and 19 December 1814, of the schooner Mary and the transports Lloyd and Abeona. [Note 2]
On 7 February 1815, a party of American militia captured a tender to Dauntless near St James Island, in Chesapeake Bay. The tender was armed with one 12-pounder carronade and some swivel guns, and had a crew of 19 men under the command of a lieutenant. [7]
In December 1815, as the Navy contracted after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, she went into Ordinary. [1]
Between June 1818 and February 1819 Dauntless underwent repairs and fitting out at Portsmouth. In November 1818, she was recommissioned under Commander Valentine Gardner for service in the East Indies. [1]
Over the next five years, Dauntless visited China, New Zealand, South America, the Pacific archipelagos and New South Wales. Valentine died in November 1820. His replacement was Commander John Norman Campbell (acting). Captain George Gambier assumed command in June 1821. [1]
On 14 August 1821 local inhabitants massacred 10 of the 12 men in a landing party from the whaler Coquette at Hanamenu on the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands. The landing party had the misfortune to arrive as a local war commenced and one side assumed they were enemy. Gambier and Dauntless were sent to investigate and exact reprisals. [8]
In company with members of the Philosophical Society of Australasia fixed a suitably engraved bronze tablet on a "beetling rock" on the south head of Botany Bay to commemorate the first landing of Captain James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks in Australia in 1770. The tablet has not been seen for some years. Dauntless sailed through Torres Strait to Trincomalee to rejoin the fleet, and returned to Portsmouth to pay off in October 1823.
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered Dauntless for sale on 27 January 1825. [9] She sold on that day to Thomas Smith for £2,330. [1]
HMS Cherub was an 18-gun Royal Navy Cormorant-class sloop built in Dover in 1806. She participated in two major campaigns in the West Indies during the Napoleonic Wars, and one major engagement in the Pacific during the War of 1812, all each of which earned her crews clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. The Navy sold her in 1820.
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 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 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 Mullett was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1807. Mullett had an apparently useful and completely uneventful career until she was sold at the end of 1814.
HMS Brazen was a 28-gun Royal Navy Bittern-class ship sloop, launched in 1808.
HMS Nightingale was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class of the British Royal Navy, launched in July 1805. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, primarily in the North Sea, where she captured a number of merchant vessels. The Navy sold her in 1815. She then became a merchantman, trading across the Atlantic, particularly between Liverpool and South America. She was last listed in 1829.
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 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 Crocus was the nameship of the Crocus-class brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1808 and had an almost completely uneventful career until she was sold in 1815. She then became a merchantman trading with the West Indies and the Mediterranean. She was last listed in 1823.
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.
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 Cormorant was probably launched in 1803 at Howden Pans as the merchant ship Blenheim. The Admiralty purchased her in June and the Royal Navy took her into service to use her as a convoy escort. Then in 1809 it converted her into a storeship. After the Admiralty sold her in 1817, she resumed the Blenheim name and returned to mercantile service as a West Indiaman. She disappeared after 10 November 1821 and was presumed to have foundered.
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.
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.
Milan was a French brig built at Saint Malo, from plans designed by François Pestel that had already served for Curieux in 1800 and for Palinure in 1804. She served in the French Navy for four years before HMS Surveillante and Seine captured her. She became HMS Achates in the Royal Navy and served until after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Royalist was launched in 1807. She captured many privateers and letters of marque, most French, but also some from Denmark and the United States. Her crew twice were awarded the Naval General Service Medal. She was instrumental in the capture of a French frigate. The Royal Navy sold her in 1819. She then became a whaler, making three complete voyages. She was condemned after a mishap while on her fourth.
HMS Comet was launched in 1807 as a Thais-class fireship of the Royal Navy. In 1808 the class were re-rated as sloops, and in 1811 they were re-rated as 20-gun sixth rates. Comet participated in one action that resulted in her crew being awarded the Naval General Service Medal, and some other actions and captures. The Navy sold her in 1815. In 1816 she became an East Indiaman, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She sailed between the United Kingdom and Ceylon. It was on one of these journeys that she was wrecked on Cole House Point on the River Thames on 9 August 1828.
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.
Media related to HMS Dauntless (ship, 1808) at Wikimedia Commons