HMS Growler was a Archer-class gun-brig built for the British Royal Navy and launched in 1804. She captured several French privateers and one Danish privateer, and took part in two actions that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She was sold in 1815.
Lieutenant James Rose commissioned Growler in August 1804.[3]
On 15 February 1805 Growler took in to Falmouth the French gunbrig No.193 that Growler had captured after an engagement of an hour-and-a-half. Transport No.193 was one of a squadron of brand new vessels bound for Brest from Bayonne and was armed with two long 24-pounder guns, one 18-pounder, and four swivel guns. She was one of four gunbrigs of the same class on their way from Bayonne to Brest when captured. She had a crew of 15 seamen under the command of an enseigne de vaisseau, and 34 soldiers under the command of an Army captain.[4]
On 25 March Growler was off the Penmarks when she observed 15 French gunboats sailing along the shore. Growler was able to capture the two farthest from the shore. These were the transport pinnaces No.443, with 15 men aboard, and No.450, with 13 men on board. The remaining 13 gunboats took shelter under the Penmarks, which prevented Rose from capturing more.[5][lower-alpha 1]
On 19 May Growler captured the chasse mareeMaria Victoire.[7]
On 12 November Growler brought Goede Verwagting into Dartmouth. She had been sailing from Rotterdam when Growler detained her.[8]
On 28 January 1806 Growler, under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Nesbitt, was in company with Attack off Brest. They sighted two luggers and Growler captured one. The prize was the French privateer lugger Voltiguer, of six 9-pounder guns (though pierced for 14 guns), and 66 men. She was one day out of Saint-Malo and had not captured anything.[9][lower-alpha 2]
From her the British learned that the other lugger was also a French privateer and Attack set out in pursuit. After a nine-hour, circular chase Attack succeeded in capturing Sorcier, of 14 guns and 60 men under the command of Guillaume Francoise Neele.[9][lower-alpha 3]
Sorciere and Voltigier arrived at Plymouth on 1 February.[12]
On 19 April, 24 men from the hired armed brig Colpoys and Attack, landed at the entrance of the river Donillan and spiked two guns of a battery in order to be able to proceed up the river in pursuit of two chasse-marées. They then caught up with their quarries, capturing Vincent Gabriel and Marie Française, which they were able to bring out. They also destroyed the signal station at Donillan. The British suffered no casualties in the operation. Growler may have been in company; her assistant surgeon accompanied the landing party.[13][lower-alpha 4]
Also in April Growler detained Maria, of Pappenburg, Mansell, master, sailing from Bayonne.[14] Then in May Growler detained Young Edward, Moise, master, from New York.[15]
On 1 June 1806, Growler, Lieutenant Thomas Nesbitt, commanding, captured Aimable Babet.[16] A chasse maree, laden with salt, prize to Growler, arrived at Plymouth.[17]
By July 1806 Growler was operating with the Channel fleet and under the command of Lieutenant Samuel Thomas. Lieutenant Richard Crossman replaced Thomas.[3]
Hazard, Growler, Conflict, and Colpoys formed the blockading squadron off the Pertuis Breton, the strait between the north-east coast of the Île de Ré and the continent. On 27 July 1807 they sighted 16 enemy vessels in the entrance sailing eastward. Because it was nearly calm the British ships had no chance of closing with the French vessels so Capt. Dilkes of Hazard sent the boats in chase. The British came under intense small-arms fire from the shore that caused no casualties. The boats were able to capture nine chasse-marées, two of them armed.[18]
The captured vessels were: Deux Amis (armed with two 4-pounder guns), Trois Freres (armed with four swivel guns, Veronique (laden with wheat), Sans Pareil (laden with wheat), Marie Francoise (in ballast), Mairie Louise (in ballast), Bon Janton (in ballast), Pascal (in ballast), and Gaulle (in ballast).[18] Their crews escaped on shore with all their papers. The crew of a tenth chasse-maree scuttled their vessel to prevent the British from capturing her. The British drove six on to the shore, one of which was armed with six guns.[18] The schooner Alban shared in the prize money for the action.[19] The lugger Trois Amis and the chasse maree Courier de Nantes, each of about 20 tons (bm), and their cargoes, were auctioned on 20 April 1807 at Plymouth.[20]
In March 1808 Growler detained and sent into Plymouth Atlantic, Grover, master, which ha been sailing from Charente to Teneriffe.[21]
On 19 May, HMSAmethyst, Conflict, and Growler were in company when they captured the French schooner Annais.[22] Then Amethyst was again in company with Growler when they captured St. Etienne, Maria Julia, and six chasse marees on 9 July.[22]
On 25 June Growler captured the American ship Tiger, Clark, master.[23]
In 11 April 1809 Growler took part in the attack on the French fleet in Basque Roads.[lower-alpha 5] In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the NGSM with clasp "Basque Roads 1809" to all surviving British participants in the battle.
In 1810 Lieutenant John Weeks took command of Growler.[3]
In June 1811 Nuestra Senora del Carmen came into Plymouth. She had been sailing from Coruna to Bilbao when Growler detained her.[25]
On 4 October 1811 Growler arrived at Plymouth with dispatches from Coruna. That night the wind increased to a hurricane; at 2a.m. Growler parted one of her cables and became entangled with Orestes. While the crews of both vessels were trying to disentangle the vessels, a squall pushed Growler alongside Orestes. Growler separated from Orestes and grounded on the shore a little east of Firestone Point. Her masts had to be cut away to get her off; she then went into dock for repairs. There were no deaths in the incident.[26]
Growler shared in the prize money for the sloop Poule Blanche, F.Becker, master, and the chasse maree Marie Francoise, G.Roge, master, that Arrow captured on 14 May 1812. HMSSan Josef, Bulwark, and Constant also shared in the prize money.[27][lower-alpha 6]
A three-vessel squadron comprising the French frigates Ariane and Andromaque, and the brig Mameluke (or Mamelouck), returning from a commerce raiding campaign in the Atlantic, on 22 May met the 74-gun HMSNorthumberland while trying to slip to Lorient through the British blockade.
An engagement ensued in which the French vessels grounded on the coast. Growler came up and continued to bombard the French vessels while Northumberland hauled off to repair her rigging, which had sustained extensive damage. The French vessels fell on their sides when the tide went out, enabling their crews to scramble ashore. Northumberland returned and continued the bombardment. Eventually the two frigates caught fire and exploded. Mameluke was severely damaged, but the French eventually recovered her and returned her to service.[29] The Admiralty in 1847 authorized the issuance of the NGSM with the clasp "Growler 22 May 1812" to all surviving claimants, of which there was one.
On 4 October Zeven Freunde, a Prussian vessel, came into Plymouth. Growler had detained her as she was sailing from Cadiz to Bordeaux.[30]
In 1812 Lieutenant Hugh Anderson took command of Growler.[3]
On 12 November Growler and Diana captured a French brig of unknown name.[31]
On 12 November Growler and Diana put a prize crew on the captured French brig Suir Maree, with orders to sail her to Plymouth. The prize crew consisted of two men from Growler, a master's mate and quartermaster from Diana and five seamen from Diana. During the night of 29 November, when the brig was off the Scilly Isles, the seamen from Growler and three from Diana, two Blacks and a Portuguese, murdered the master's mate, quartermaster, and a passenger, detained the other two seamen from Diana below deck, and set sail for a French port. Next day, when the mutineers saw two sails in the distance, in chase, the Portuguese and one of the Blacks lowered a boat and rowed away. The two men held below deck overpowered the remaining three mutineers. They hit the remaining Black on the head and threw him overboard, and seized and bound the remaining two men, who had come from Growler. The two frigates in chase came up and took possession of the brig. One was Aquilon and the other was Diana. A boat from Aquilon took the two loyal seamen and the two remaining mutineers to Diana. In December the two mutineers were tried at Plymouth and hanged.[32]
On and 13 January 1813 Growler captured Desiree and Evilina.[33]Growler next served in the Baltic.
On 10 March Growler destroyed the Danish privateer Snecken.[34]
Fate
Growler went into ordinary in 1815 at Portsmouth.[3]
The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Growler gun-brig, of 178 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 23 March 1815.[35]Growler was sold there on 31 August.[3]
Notes
↑ For a description of the Péniches (Bâtiments de 3ème Espèce) see Winfield and Roberts (2015).[6]
↑ Voltigeur was a privateer lugger from Saint-Malo built in Dinant in 1805 and commissioned in January 1806. She was under the command of Alexandre Le Grand with 64 men and six guns.[10]
↑ Sorcier was a privateer lugger from Saint-Malo, built there in 1805 and commissioned in December under a Captain Néel, with 60 men and four guns. Her capture occurred soon after she departed for her first cruise circa 28 January 1806.[11]
↑ Ussher reported that he had been cruising along the coast between the Glénan Islands and the Isle Groer.[13] Donillan appears to be Port Doelan, and the island appears to be Groix.
↑ Head money was paid in March 1819. An ordinary seaman received 13 shillings; a first-class share was worth £86 13s 2¼d.[24]
↑ Poule Blanche, of 70 tons (bm), and Marie Francoise, of 64 tons (bm), were auctioned at Plymouth on 25 July 1812.[28]
HMS Atalante was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French Atalante, captured in 1797. She served with the British during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was wrecked in 1807.
HMS Surinam was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Obadiah Ayles at Topsham, Exeter and launched in 1805. She captured one privateer during her twenty-year career and took part in two campaigns before she was broken up in 1825.
HMS Snapper 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 1804. She cruised for some seven years, sharing in several captures of merchant vessels and taking some herself, before a French privateer captured her.
HMS Phipps was the Dutch privateer Two Lydias, launched in 1807, that the British Royal Navy captured in 1808 and took into service as HMS Phipps. Phipps captured two privateers, took part in a notable action, and her crew was subjected to mercury poisoning. She was sold for breaking up in 1812.
The hired armed brig Colpoys was a French vessel launched in 1803 that a Briton acquired that year. He chartered her to the Royal Navy from 28 April 1804 until 22 August 1807. She was originally a schooner that apparently was converted to a brig in early 1805. She participated in the blockade of Brest and captured numerous small vessels. After Colpoys's contract ended she is listed until 1811, but there are no other traces of her.
Résistance was a 48-gun Vengeance-class frigate of the French Navy. HMS St Fiorenzo captured her in 1797 and the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Fisgard. She was sold in 1814.
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.
Auguste was a French 14-gun privateer commissioned in Saint-Malo in November 1811 under Pierre Jean Marie Lepeltier. She captured numerous British merchant vessels before the Royal Navy forced her in January 1814 to run onshore and wreck.
HMS Nautilus was launched at Milford in 1804 as the only member of her class of sloops. She had a minor career capturing a handful of merchantmen. She was wrecked on 5 January 1807 with great hardship for the survivors and loss of life.
Général Pérignon was a brig launched at Saint-Malo in February 1804 as a privateer. She captured numerous British merchant vessels over several cruises. In January 1810 the British Royal Navy captured her. She was sold in March 1810 and became a coaster sailing between Plymouth and London under her original name, or as Intention. She was last listed in 1816.
Patent was launched at Lynn in 1803. During her career French privateers captured her twice, and the French Navy captured her once. Two of the captures took place in 1812. The British Royal Navy recaptured her twice, and her French Navy captors released her. She also captured but lost a valuable American ship. She was wrecked in 1819.
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 Argus was launched in 1798 at Bordeaux as Argus. She became a privateer that the British Royal Navy (RN) captured in 1799. She served from April 1803 until she was broken up in April 1811.
HMS Parthian was launched at Deptford in 1808. During the Napoleonic Wars she captured one important French privateer, and several Danish, Dutch, and French merchantmen. After the war, Parthian captured a pirate schooner near Vera Cruz. Parthian was wrecked off Alexandria on 15 May 1828.
HMS Attack was launched in 1804 as a later Archer-class gunbrig. Danish gunboats captured Attack in August 1812.
HMS Pluto was a 14-gun fire ship of the Royal Navy launched in 1782. Pluto was converted to a sloop in 1793. She spent the period of the French Revolutionary Wars on the Newfoundland station where she captured a French naval vessel. During the Napoleonic Wars Pluto was stationed in the Channel. There she detained numerous merchant vessels trading with France or elsewhere. Pluto was laid up in 1809 and sold in 1817 into mercantile service. The mercantile Pluto ran aground near Margate on 31 August 1817 and filled with water.
HMS Avenger was the collier Thames, launched in 1803, that the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 and renamed. During her service she captured a number of prizes. She also captured one French privateer and participated in the capture of the Danish island of Anholt. She wrecked at St Johns Newfoundland on 8 October 1812.
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.
Ponsonby was launched in 1796 at Liverpool. She initially traded between Liverpool and Dublin, and then between 1801 and 1804 disappeared from Lloyd's Register. She returned to the register in 1805 as she sailed as a privateer for two or so months, capturing two vessels. She then became a slave ship in the triangular trade on enslaved people. The French Navy captured her before she could embark any slaves.
References
Cavendish, Chares (1840). Pocket Newgate Calendar: A Series of Authentic Memoirs of Characters Most Famous in Their Day, for Having Committed the Crimes of Murder, Housebreaking... William Draper Thomson.
Demerliac, Alain (1999). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 à 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN9782906381247. OCLC492783890.
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN0-948864-30-3.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84832-204-2.
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