History
The records on this vessel are sparse, and somewhat contradictory. Winfield states that she was a privateer, but the most comprehensive list of American privateers, that of Emmons, does not list a privateer named Magnet. The records of the Halifax Vice admiralty court for the War of 1812 do list a Magnet. She was a ship of 172 tons (bm), T. Drew, master, that HMS Ringdove captured on 18 July 1812 as Magnet was sailing from Belfast to New York City. She was carrying passengers and a small amount of linens. [4] The records state that Magnet was "Taken into possession for the use of the King's service." However, Magnet's burthen is not consistent with that of HMS Attentive. Curiously, the same Vice admiralty records show that HMS Atalante captured Marquis de Somerlous on 10 July 1812. Marquis de Somerlous was a ship of 359 tons (bm), the only one of that burthen on the Vice admiralty's records. Under the command of T. Moriarty, master, she had been sailing from Civitavecchia to Salem, Massachusetts, with a cargo of brandy, wines, silks, and dry goods when Atalanta captured her. Her name as given in a London Gazette list of British captures was Marquis Somnielos. [4]
Newspaper accounts of Attentive's service exist: [6]
- 5 July 1815, arrived Halifax, the store ship Attentive, Lt. Stewart, 5 days from Moose Island, Maine. [6]
- 19 May 1816, arrived Halifax, Lt. Smith, from Bermuda. [6]
- 25 July 1816, arrived Halifax, from Sydney, N.S. [6]
- 9 September 1816, departed Halifax, for England, with Gen. Gasselin and family passengers. [6]
Nautilus was a schooner launched in 1799. The United States Navy purchased her in May 1803 and commissioned her USS Nautilus; she thus became the first ship to bear that name. She served in the First Barbary War. She was altered to a brigantine. The British captured Nautilus early in the War of 1812 and renamed her HMS Emulous. After her service with the Royal Navy, the Admiralty sold her in 1817.
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HMS Pictou was a 14-gun schooner that the Royal Navy captured in 1813. She served briefly on the Royal Navy's North American station, capturing one or two merchantmen before the American frigate USS Constitution captured her during the War of 1812.
HMS Epervier was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, built by Ross at Rochester, England, and launched on 2 December 1812. USS Peacock captured her in 1814 and took her into service. USS Epervier disappeared in 1815 while carrying dispatches reporting the signing of a treaty with the Dey of Algiers.
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HMS Curlew (1812) was a Royal Navy Cruizer class brig-sloop built by (William) Good & Co., at Bridport and launched in 1812. She served with the Navy for only 10 years. During the War of 1812 she sailed from Halifax and captured several American privateers. Her greatest moment was her role in the 1819 British occupation of Ras al-Khaimah. Curlew was sold in 1822 in Bombay. She then had a 13 or so year career as an opium runner for James Matheson, one of the founders of the firm Jardine Matheson.
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HMS Paz was a Spanish naval schooner that the British Royal Navy captured at Monte Video on 3 February 1807. She served on the River Plate, North Sea, and North American Stations, where she captured numerous privateers and merchant vessels. The Navy sold her in 1816.
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HMS Plumper was launched in 1807. She captured three small American privateers early in the War of 1812 but was wrecked in December 1812.
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Paragon was launched at Medford, Massachusetts in 1813 and captured later that year.
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