HMS Earnest was launched at Leith in 1805 as one of 48 later Archer-class gun brigs for the British Royal Navy. During her naval career Earnest captured five small privateers and numerous merchant vessels. In 1816 the Admiralty sold her and she became the merchantman Earnest. She continued to sail and was last listed in 1850.
In February 1805 Lieutenant Alexander Sinclair commissioned Earnest.
Earnest shared with Active, Griper, Carrier, Mariner, and Minx in the proceeds from the recapture of Francis, Tucker, master, and Betsey on 14 and 15 September.[3]
Earnest was part of the Boulogne flotilla with Cruizer, Minx, Mariner, and Griper, and so all shared in the proceeds of the recapture on 29 September of Rover, of Newcastle, Hillary, master.[a]
Lieutenant Richard Templar replaced Sinclair in 1806.[2] On 14 April Ernest sent into Dover Gute Hoffnung which had been sailing from Hamburg to Caen.[5] On 6 June Earnest was in company with Oberon when they captured Yonge Heinrick H.H. Berg, master.[6] Then on 7 and 8 August, Earnest and Constant captured Frau Teresta and a ship of unknown name.[7] On 25 August 1806 Earnest captured Vrow Luckina, Caper, master.[8]
Between January and February 1809 Earnest underwent fitting by Pitcher, Northfleet. In May Earnest was in Wingo Sound where she captured two sloop-rigged privateers, Four Brothers (or Fire Bredere), of four guns and 22 men, and Mackarel (or Makrel), of two guns and 18 men.[9] On 15 May Superb and Earnest captured Diana, D'Lieb, and Livegierne.[10]
On 28 July Lloyd's List reported that Earnest had recaptured Vriendschap, Kok, master, which had been sailing to the Baltic when a Danish lugger had captured her. Vriendship arrived at Ystad.[11]Earnest also recaptured Emanuel, Tygerfon, master. The prize money notice gives the name of Friendschap's master as L. H. Hok.[12] A later notice gives the date of recapture for Emanuel as 28 September 1808, and that of Friendschap as 2 July 1809.[13]
On 28 July 1810, Earnest captured in the Kattegat a Danish privateer cutter of two guns and 13 men.[14][15] On 2 October Earnest captured Walusten, and on 13 March 1811 Voranfsehende.[16] This may have been the bark, from Norway, that Earnest captured off the Gallopper Sand.[17]
On 15 June 1811, Earnest's yawl captured a French privateer schuyt of unknown name. The schuyt was armed with six guns and had a crew of 24 men, who escaped ashore.[18] Then on 7 July Earnest captured the French privateer lugger Sacripan, of five guns and 28 men.[19][20]
Lloyd's List reported on 10 September that Primus, with tar and hemp, Worksam, in ballast, Scaleigh, with corn, Experiment, with iron, Columbus. with linseed. Neptunus, with timber, and Hector, with sundry goods, had all come into Yarmouth. They were prizes to HMSTremendous, Ranger, Calypso, Algerine, Musquito, Earnest. and Portia.[21]
In June 1814 Lieutenant James Tait replaced Templar.[2]
Prize money
From roughly 1812 on, the London Gazette started publishing detailed breakdowns of prize money. In the tables below, a First-Class share was that of commander of the vessel, unless the commander was a Lieutenant operating in company with another vessel under the command of a Commander or a Captain. A sixth-class share was that of an Ordinary Seaman. Head money was a bounty paid for each enemy crew member on a warship or privateer.
Second-class share not First because shared with Superbe
22 June 1809
Catherina Sophia
£2 0s 7+1⁄2d
2s
Recapture; Second-class share not First because shared with Princess Caroline
26 September 1808 1 October 1808
Lystig Assistenten
£17 4s 0d
8s 2+1⁄2d (Lystig) 3s 11+1⁄4d (Assistenten)
Head money
5&6 May 1809
Four Brothers Mackerel
£39 19s 8d
£1 10s 9d
Head money
2 July 1809
Hertigheden
£7 7s 6d
5s 3d
Head money
28 June 1810 20 July 1810
Pigeon Fredenshaab
£22 2s 2d
15s ?d
Head money
6 July 1811
Sacripan
£13 2s 8d
8s 3+3⁄4d
Head money
19 June to 8 August 1811
Geddan Maria Helena
£31 4s 4d
£1 11s 6+3⁄4d
19 June to 8 August 1811
Gustava, Maria, Maria Fortuna, & Anna Maria
£121 11s 4d
£5 15s 9d
15 June 1811
French privateer of unknown name
£21 3s 9d
16s 2+1⁄4d
Head money paid 1829; Lieutenant Templar described as deceased
Disposal
The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" announced that on 18 April they would offer for sale a number of vessels, one of them being "Earnest gun-brig, of 182 tons", lying at Deptford.[22]
Earnest
Beatson & Co. purchased Earnest on 2 May 1816 for £600 and retained her name.[2] He also had her rebuilt. She entered Lloyd's Register in 1818 (the Register was not published in 1817), with J. Beatson master and owner, and trade London–Fayal.[23]
On the night of 28 January 1819, Earnest, Beatson, master, ran on shore near Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk. She was nearly full of water and had previously struck on the Haisborough Sands on her way from Hamburgh to London.[24]
Earnest appeared in the 1820 Register of Shipping with trade London–Bahia. Lloyd's List reported on 1 January 1820 that as she was sailing from Pernambuco to Le Havre she ran aground near Cherbourg. She was expected to be got off.[25]
On 3 December 1825 Earnest, Spooner, master, was reported to be in Memel harbour in a critical state as there was floating ice and strong currents.[26]
HMS Bold was a 14-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy built at Blackwall Yard. She took part in several minor actions and captured some prizes before she grounded in 1811 and was broken up shortly thereafter.
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 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 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 Cruizer was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Stephen Teague of Ipswich and launched in 1797. She was the first ship of the class, but there was a gap of 5 years between her launch and the ordering of the next batch in October 1803; by 1815 a total of 105 other vessels had been ordered to her design. She had an eventful wartime career, mostly in the North Sea, English Channel and the Baltic, and captured some 15 privateers and warships, and many merchant vessels. She also participated in several actions. She was laid up in 1813 and the Commissioners of the Navy sold her for breaking in 1819.
HMS Firm was a 12-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 July 1804. She served in the Channel, where she engaged in one action that would eventually result in her crew qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal. She grounded in 1811 and her crew had to destroy her before abandoning her.
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 Orestes was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class of the British Royal Navy, launched in October 1805. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, primarily in the North Sea and the Channel, where she captured three privateers. The Navy sold her in 1817.
HMS Harpy was a Royal Navy Diligence-class brig-sloop, launched in 1796 and sold in 1817. She was the longest lived vessel of her class, and the most widely travelled. She served in both the battle of Copenhagen and the British invasion of Java, took part in several actions, one of which won for her crew a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal, and captured numerous privateers. The Navy sold her in 1817.
HMS Briseis was a 10-gun Cherokee- class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1808 at Upnor, on the River Medway. She participated in one notable single ship action before she wrecked in 1816.
Two vessels named His Majesty's hired armed lugger Sandwich served the British Royal Navy, one during the French Revolutionary Wars, and the other during the Napoleonic Wars.
During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, the British Royal Navy twice employed a vessel named His Majesty's hired armed cutter Albion, though these are probably the same vessel:
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 Monkey was launched in 1801 at Rochester. She served in the Channel, North Sea, and the Baltic, and was wrecked in December 1810.
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 Sharpshooter was launched in 1805. She operated in the Channel, often from the Channel Islands. She participated in two actions and captured a small number of merchant vessels. She was sold and broken up in 1816.
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 Griper was a later Archer-class gunbrig launched in 1804 and wrecked in 1807.
HMS Conflict was launched in 1805. She captured a number of vessels, including privateers, and participated in several major actions. She disappeared in November 1810 with the loss of all her crew.
HMS Pioneer was a Pigmy–class schooner of the Royal Navy, launched in 1810 as a cutter. During her service with the Navy she captured one French privateer and assisted at the capture of another. In 1823–1824 she underwent fitting for the Coast Guard blockade. She then served with the Coast Guard to 1845. She was sold at Plymouth in 1849.
References
Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 A 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN2-903179-30-1.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Naval Gazetteer, Biographer and Chronologist: Containing a History of the Late Wars from ... 1793 to ... 1801; and from ... 1803 to 1815, and Continued, as to the Biographical Part to the Present Time. (1842). (C. Wilson).
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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