HMS Owen Glendower (1808)

Last updated

C. W. Eckersberg, En engelsk fregat til ankers, som torrer sejl, og en dansk lodsbad, 1822.png
HMS Owen Glendower in Copenhagen in 1822, painted by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Owen Glendower
Namesake Owain Glyndŵr [lower-alpha 1]
Ordered1 October 1806
Laid downJanuary 1807
Launched19 November 1808
FateSold in 1884
General characteristics [6]
Class and type36-gun fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate
Tons burthen9513⁄95 (bm)
Length
  • 145 ft 3 in (44.27 m) (overall);
  • 121 ft 11+3⁄8 in (37.170 m) (keel)
Beam38 ft 3+1⁄2 in (11.671 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement285
Armament
  • Upperdeck: 26 x 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 x 9-pounder guns + 10 x 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 x 9-pounder guns + 4 x 32-pounder carronades

HMS Owen Glendower (or Owen Glendour) was a Royal Navy 36-gun fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate launched in 1808 and disposed of in 1884. In between she was instrumental in the seizure of the Danish island of Anholt, captured prizes in the Channel during the Napoleonic Wars, sailed to the East Indies and South America, participated in the suppression of the slave trade, and served as a prison hulk in Gibraltar before she was sold in 1884.

Contents

Active duty

Captain William Selby, late of Cerberus, took command of Owen Glendower in January 1809. [6]

1803 plan of an Apollo-class frigate EURYALUS 1803 RMG J5673.jpg
1803 plan of an Apollo-class frigate

The Gunboat War

Early in May 1809, Vice-admiral Sir James Saumarez, the British commander-in-chief in the Baltic, sent a squadron, consisting of the 64-gun third rate Standard, Owen Glendower, three sloops (Avenger, Ranger, and Rose), and the gun-brig Snipe. The commander of the squadron was Captain Aiskew Paffard Hollis, captain of Standard. Their objective was to capture the Danish island of Anholt. [7] Anholt was small and essentially barren; its significance rested in the lighthouse that stood on its easternmost point. The Danes had extinguished it at the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Denmark; the point of capturing the island was to restore the lighthouse to its function to assist British men-of-war and merchantmen in the Kattegat. [8]

The task force landed a party of seamen and marines, under the command of Selby, assisted by Captain Edward Nicolls of the Standard's Royal Marines. The Danes put up a short, ineffective resistance that killed one British marine and wounded two. Still, on 18 May the Danish garrison of 170 men surrendered, giving the British immediate possession of the island. [7]

The Channel

From late 1809 Owen Glendower operated in the Channel. On 10 March 1810, she came upon a French privateer lugger while her crew was boarding a schooner. [9] Selby chased the lugger for one and half hours. The lugger resisted until she was half full of water and had had two men killed and three wounded out of her crew of 58. [9] She turned out to be Camille, armed with only six of the fourteen guns she carried, having stored eight in her hold. She had sailed from Cherbourg only six hours earlier and had already captured the English schooner Fame, of London, William Proper, master, which had been sailing from Lisbon to London with a cargo of fruit. HMS Diana later recaptured Fame. [9]

On 26 March Owen Glendower sailed with a convoy for Quebec. On 27 September she sailed with a convoy for the Cape of Good Hope. [6]

Then on 1 October Owen Glendower, with Persian in company, [10] was escorting a convoy off The Lizard in thick fog. A master and crew from Roden, [10] one of the vessels in the convoy, came aboard and advised Selby that a French privateer cutter had taken his vessel. When the fog lifted, it turned out that the cutter was only a short distance away. The cutter did not surrender until a short cannonade wounded several of her crew. She turned out to be the 16 or 20-gun Indomptable, out of Roscoff, with a crew of 120 or 130 men. [11] She had formerly been the Revenue Cutter Swan, out of Cowes. [12] Selby also retook Roden. [10]

Selby died aboard Owen Glendower on 28 March 1811 whilst at the Cape of Good Hope . [13] Edward Henry A'Court, newly promoted to post-captain on 29 March, took temporary command of Owen Glendower. [6] He then sailed her back to Britain. Captain Bryan Hodgson transferred in July from HMS Barbadoes to replace A'Court as captain. [6]

East Indies

Owen Glendower's next cruise was to the East Indies. She was due to leave Portsmouth on 25 September 1811, but adverse winds detained her. She sailed five days later, only to be driven back to Falmouth. Finally, she sailed for India on 20 October. In 1812 she served as flagship for Vice Admiral Sir Samuel Hood in the East Indies. [6]

In May 1814 off the Nicobar Islands, Owen Glendower captured a U.S. privateer, the 12 or 16-gun vessel Hyder Ally, which had a crew of 30. [14] [15] Hyder Ally was out of Portland, Maine and under the command of Captain Israel Thorndike. She carried sixteen cannons: twelve 18-pounder carronades, two 18-pounder guns, and two 9-pounder guns. Hyder Ally had already taken three prizes, which she had sent back to the US. (The British later retook all three. Earlier, Hyder Ally had escaped after being chased for three days by Salsette. [15]

Owen Glendower cruised the East Indies, stopping at such places as the Malacca Roads (21 August), Madras (29 August 1815), Penang and China, Trincomalee, and the like. She returned to England in the spring of 1816 and was laid up in May at Chatham.

Post-war

Between March 1817 and May 1819, Owen Glendower underwent major repairs at Chatham. She then was fitted for sea between June and October. [6]

South America

Captain the Honorable Robert Cavendish Spencer took command of Owen Glendower in August 1819. [6] He brought with him nearly all the officers and 18 young gentlemen from his previous command, Ganymede. Owen Glendower was nominally ready for sea, but Spencer found the reality less compelling. He therefore spent two and a half months re-rigging and re-fitting. [lower-alpha 2] He also discharged about a fifth of his crew and lost about the same proportion to sickness and desertion. [17]

Owen Glendower sailed for South America on 16 November. She arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 19 December after a record 33-day voyage that included a 24-hour stop in Funchal, Madeira. She then sailed for Montevideo and Buenos Aires where Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy was waiting to make her his flagship. She stayed in Buenos Aires for some time, but then sailed to St Helena on a fact-finding mission to report on the conditions under which Napoleon was living while in captivity. Contemporary accounts stress that Spencer's political affiliations were such that he would have been ready to find fault; instead, his report affirmed that Napoleon was well treated, though Napoleon chose not to grant Spencer an audience. [18] While Owen Glendower was away on this mission, Hardy transferred his flag to Creole.

Owen Glendower rounded Cape Horn despite bad weather and arrived in Valparaiso on 22 January 1821. Spencer was under orders to find Captain William Henry Shirreff of Andromache, who was a close friend of Lord Cochrane. (Cochrane was commander of the insurgent Chilean Navy in the fight for Chile's independence form Spain). Shirreff had ignored three previous recall messages and Spencer's orders were to arrest Shirreff if he continue to prove recalcitrant. The reason behind the recall was that Spain had complained that Shirreff had not maintained a strict neutrality. [19] Hardy, in Creole, joined Spencer at Valparaiso. Spencer found Andromache off Peru and Shirreff agreed, without a fuss, to return to Britain. [17]

Owen Glendower then spent three months off Spanish Peru, during which she visited the Galapagos Islands. [lower-alpha 3] One of her midshipmen was Robert FitzRoy, who, as captain of HMS Beagle, would take Charles Darwin there in 1834. [21] While Owen Glendower was at Callao, the Chilean fleet attacked the port. However, Cochrane's forces were not strong enough and he was forced to retire. During the attack, Spencer moved Owen Glendower to expose a Chilean vessel that had tried to take cover behind her. [17]

Blockade succeeded where force had not, and Spain entered into negotiations with the rebels. The negotiations took place on Owen Glendower. These negotiations continued after Spencer's recall and were completed on board Conway; the negotiations resulted in the formation of the Republic of Peru. [17]

Owen Glendower sailed for home with freight worth about £400,000. [lower-alpha 4] Off the Azores they encountered an American ship from Smyrna that had exhausted its food and water. Spencer provided some and told them that they were only a few hours away from Flores. [17] Owen Glendower arrived at Spithead on 19 January 1822.

The Eastern Atlantic

Owen Glendower underwent a refit that included rebuilding the stern that Sir Robert Sepping had given her. Spencer then sailed her, with his father, Earl Spencer, to Copenhagen to invest the Danish King with the Order of the Garter. [16] Two or three weeks later she was at Falmouth to determine its longitude. She then sailed to Madeira to determine Funchal's longitude. Owen Glendower then was paid off at Chatham.

Another midshipman on Owen Glendower at about this time who later came to be of note was Richard Brydges Beechey. He would go on to reach the rank of Rear Admiral. He was also a painter, and son and brother of painters.

Fighting the slave trade

Cape Coast Castle Cape coast castle II.JPG
Cape Coast Castle
Portrait of Cheesman Henry Binstead, 1826, from the Royal Naval Museum Cheesman Henry Binstead.jpg
Portrait of Cheesman Henry Binstead, 1826, from the Royal Naval Museum

In October 1821, the Admiralty appointed Captain Sir Robert Mends to the West Africa Squadron as Commodore and Senior Officer on the west coast of Africa, to be employed in the suppression of the slave trade. He commissioned Owen Glendower in November 1822. [6]

On 16 June 1823, Owen Glendower seized the Spanish slave schooner Concheta. [23]

Returning to Africa following an outbreak of yellow fever, Mends defended the Cape Coast against the threatened attack by the Ashanti. It was during this operation that he fell ill with cholera. He died three days later on 4 September. [6]

On 5 September the boats of the Owen Glendower seized the Spanish slave schooner Fabiana. [23]

Lieutenant Pringle Stokes temporarily took command of the ship. [24]

Hearing of the death of Sir Robert Mends, Commander John Filmore, who had recently arrived on the African Station, appointed himself to command the station and transferred to the Owen Glendower. [25]

On 8 February 1824 marines from Owen Glendower defended Cape Coast Castle following the Ashanti defeat of government forces: two marines and a Krooman were killed and two marines and five seamen from the ship wounded. [lower-alpha 5] Thereafter the vessel visited ports along the coast where the Ashanti might have been taking refuge. A letter dated 16 March 1824 from Major J. Chisholm, administrator of the colonial government and commander of the British troops on the Gold Coast, praised Owen Glendower and Captain Woolcombe for her role in suppressing unrest and possible insurrection at Elmina. [26] On 19 May 1824 Owen Glendower, under Captain Prickett, who also commanded the Naval Squadron, landed seamen and marines to occupy the forts on the coast while the army moved against the Ashanti. [27]

One of the officers on Owen Glendower during her time with the West Africa Squadron was Cheesman Henry Binstead. He served as an Admiralty Midshipman and later as an acting Lieutenant. He is most noted for the diaries that he kept, which detail life on the squadron. They record frustrations, slave ships chased and captured, fears of attack and imprisonment, impressions of the indigenous African people, and effects of ill-health and fever on the ship's men. When Owen Glendower finally returned to England, Binstead was one of the few of her original crew to have survived.

From October 1824 to February 1825, Owen Glendower was back at Chatham, undergoing refitting. [6] There Captain Hood Hanway Christian commissioned her for the Africa station, [6] where he would serve as Commodore. [28]

Cape of Good Hope

From early 1825 to early 1827, Owen Glendower was based at the Cape of Good Hope. On 10 March 1826, 19 sailors from Owen Glendower drowned in a boating accident at Simon's Bay when her pinnace swamped. [29] After another trip to England via St Helena, she was paid off at Chatham in July. Between December 1828 and December 1829, Owen Glendower was at Chatham, again undergoing repairs. [6]

Gibraltar

In March 1842 Owen Glendower was in Chatham, being fitted as a prison hulk to be based at Gibraltar. [6] > She then sailed from Chatham for Gibraltar in October with 200 convicts for work on the development of the Dockyard and the construction of a new breakwater there. Among the convicts were some who had run afoul of the restrictive political laws of the time, such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Once in Gibraltar, Owen Glendower then served for decades as a convict hulk.

Fate

In 1876 Gibraltar abolished the Convict Establishment and Owen Glendower, which had been operating as the convicts' hospital, became a receiving ship. In 1884 she was sold to F. Danino at Gibraltar, [30] for £1036. [6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1359 – c. 1416) was the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales. [1] [2] [3] Owain Glyndŵr fought a long but unsuccessful campaign aimed at ending English rule in Wales. [4] The anglicisation of the name to Owen Glendower apparently comes from Holinshed's Chronicles, which served as one of Shakespeare's main sources for his history play Henry IV, Part One in which Glendower is a character. Glendower is referred to in Henry IV, Part Two , but he does not have a speaking role in that play. Owen Glendower was the only Royal Navy vessel to bear that name. [5]
  2. ↑ Spencer introduced "Congreve's Lights" at his own expense before the Board of Ordnance had authorized them. [16]
  3. ↑ While Spencer was in Peru a report reached London that he had been killed in a duel with his First Lieutenant; it was two months before the story was contradicted. [20]
  4. ↑ The Navy permitted captains returning to Britain to carry "freight" in the form of remittances. The captains earned a commission of one percent of the value, half of which they kept and half of which went to the Greenwich Hospital (London); unlike in the case of prizes, the crew did not share in the proceeds. [22]
  5. ↑ Also Krouman or Kruman. This was the term for an ex-slave, rescued from West Africa and locally recruited into the Royal Navy. The Navy used it as a title, such as "Krooman Jim Freeman", or "Head Krouman Jim Freeman".

Citations

  1. ↑ "Owain Glyndŵr". Glyndŵr University. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Owain Glyndwr". Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
  3. ↑ Mainwaring, Rachel (23 April 2016). "How Wales is marking 400 years since Shakespeare's death". Wales Online . Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Allday, D. Helen (1981). Insurrection in Wales: the rebellion of the Welsh led by Owen Glyn Dwr (Glendower) against the English Crown in 1400. Lavenham: Terence Dalton. p. 51. ISBN   0-86138-001-0.
  5. ↑ Colledge & Warlow (2006), p. 292.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Winfield (2008), p. 167.
  7. 1 2 "No. 16260". The London Gazette . 23 May 1809. p. 736.
  8. ↑ James (1827) Vol. 5, 130.
  9. 1 2 3 "No. 16349". The London Gazette . 10 March 1810. p. 354.
  10. 1 2 3 "No. 16590". The London Gazette . 7 April 1812. p. 666.
  11. ↑ The Gentleman's Magazine (November 1810), Vol. 80 Part 2, p. 466.
  12. ↑ Lloyd's List,№4499.
  13. ↑ The gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle, Volume 81, Part 1, p. 596.
  14. ↑ Niles's Weekly Register, 15 February 1815, 400.
  15. 1 2 "No. 16983". The London Gazette . 11 February 1815. p. 234.
  16. 1 2 The annual biography and obituary for the year 1832, Vol. 16, 5; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Phillips, Michael – Owen Glendower
  18. ↑ Forsyth & Lowe (1853), p. 246.
  19. ↑ Vale (2001), p. 22.
  20. ↑ Le Marchant (1876), pp. 219–20.
  21. ↑ Gribbin and Gribbin (2003), pp. 24&30.
  22. ↑ Vale (2001), p. 23.
  23. 1 2 "No. 19845". The London Gazette . 10 April 1840. p. 953.
  24. ↑ British and Foreign State Papers (1825), p. 502.
  25. ↑ Marshall (1830), p. 434.
  26. ↑ "No. 18038". The London Gazette . 22 June 1824. pp. 1009–1011.
  27. ↑ "No. 18050". The London Gazette . 3 August 1824. pp. 1273–1274.
  28. ↑ "NMM, vessel ID 372643" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol iii. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  29. ↑ Roth et al. (1906), p. 257.
  30. ↑ Colledge, p. 254.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Philadelphia</i> (1799) United States 36-gun sailing frigate

USS Philadelphia, a 1240-ton, 36-gun sailing frigate, was the second vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Philadelphia. Originally named City of Philadelphia, she was built in 1798–1799 for the United States government by residents of that city. Funding for her construction was raised by a drive that collected $100,000 in one week, in June 1798. She was designed by Josiah Fox and built by Samuel Humphreys, Nathaniel Hutton and John Delavue. Her carved work was done by William Rush of Philadelphia. She was laid down about November 14, 1798, launched on November 28, 1799, and commissioned on April 5, 1800, with Captain Stephen Decatur, Sr. in command. She was captured by Barbary pirates in Tripoli with William Bainbridge in command. Stephen Decatur led a raid that burned her down, preventing her use by the pirates.

HMS <i>Speedy</i> (1782) Speedy-class brig of the British Royal Navy

HMS Speedy was a 14-gun Speedy-class brig of the British Royal Navy. Built during the last years of the American War of Independence, she served with distinction during the French Revolutionary Wars.

HMS <i>Hannibal</i> (1786) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Hannibal was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1786, named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal. She is best known for having taken part in the Algeciras Campaign, and for having run aground during the First Battle of Algeciras on 5 July 1801, which resulted in her capture. She then served in the French Navy until she was broken up in 1824.

HMS <i>Standard</i> (1782) Intrepid-class ship of the line

HMS Standard was a 64-gun Royal Navy third-rate ship of the line, launched on 8 October 1782 at Deptford. She was the last of the 15 Intrepid-class vessels, which were built to a design by John Williams.

HMS <i>Boxer</i> (1812) 1812 Gold-class gun-brig

HMS Boxer was a 12-gun Bold-class gun-brig built and launched in July 1812. The ship had a short service history with the British Royal Navy before the 16-gun USS Enterprise captured her near Portland, Maine in September 1813. She then went on to have at least a decade-long commercial career.

HMS <i>Active</i> (1799) Royal Navy sailing frigate (1799–860)

HMS Active was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate launched on 14 December 1799 at Chatham Dockyard. Sir John Henslow designed her as an improvement on the Artois-class frigates. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous enemy vessels. Her crews participated in one campaign and three actions that would later qualify them for the Naval General Service Medal. She returned to service after the wars and finally was broken up in 1860.

HMS <i>Cerberus</i> (1794) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Cerberus was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and even briefly in the Baltic against the Russians. She participated in one boat action that won for her crew a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She also captured many privateers and merchant vessels. Her biggest battle was the Battle of Lissa, which won for her crew another clasp to the NGSM. She was sold in 1814.

HMS Eurydice was a 24-gun Porcupine-class post ship of the Royal Navy built in 1781 and broken up in 1834. During her long career she saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She captured a number of enemy privateers and served in the East and West Indies, the Mediterranean and British and American waters.

HMS <i>Blossom</i> (1806) 19th-century British Royal Navy ship

HMS Blossom was an 18-gun Cormorant-class sloop-of-war. She was built in 1806 and is best known for the 1825–1828 expedition under Captain Beechey to the Pacific Ocean. She explored as far north as Point Barrow, Alaska, the furthest point into the Arctic any non-Inuit had been at the time. She was finally broken up in 1848.

HMS <i>Argo</i> (1781) British Roebuck-class ship

HMS Argo was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1781 from Howdon Dock. The French captured her in 1783, but 36 hours later the British recaptured her. She then distinguished herself in the French Revolutionary Wars by capturing several prizes, though she did not participate in any major actions. She also served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold in 1816.

The Royal Navy purchased the Newcastle collier Ramillies in June 1804 and commissioned her as HMS Proselyte in September 1804, having converted her to a 28-gun sixth rate in July and August. Between 1806 and 1808 she was converted to a bomb vessel. She was crushed by ice and abandoned in 1808 at the island of Anholt while acting as a lightvessel.

HMS <i>Persian</i> (1809) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Terpsichore</i> (1785) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Terpsichore was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the last years of the American War of Independence, but did not see action until the French Revolutionary Wars. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, in a career that spanned forty-five years.

HMS <i>Arab</i> (1798)

HMS Arab was a 22-gun post ship of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the 18-gun French privateer Brave, which the British captured in 1798. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars until she was sold in 1810.

HMS Nemesis was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The French captured her in 1795 at Smyrna, but in 1796 a squadron led by Barfleur brought her out of the neutral port of Tunis. Throughout her career she served under a number of commanders who would go on to have distinguished careers. She was converted to a troopship in 1812 and was sold in 1814.

HMS <i>Peterel</i> (1794) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Peterel was a 16-gun Pylades-class ship-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1794 and was in active service until 1811. Her most famous action was the capture of the French brig Ligurienne when shortly after Peterel captured two merchant ships and sent them off with prize crews, three French ships attacked her. She drove two on shore and captured the largest, the 14-gun Ligurienne. The Navy converted Peterel to a receiving ship at Plymouth in 1811 and sold her in 1827.

Pringle Stokes was a British naval officer who served in HMS Owen Glendower on a voyage around Cape Horn to the Pacific coast of South America, and on the West African coast fighting the slave trade. He then commanded HMS Beagle on its first voyage of exploration in the south Atlantic. After two years in command of the Beagle, depressed by the harsh winter conditions of the Strait of Magellan, he committed suicide.

HMS <i>Hyaena</i> (1778)

HMS Hyaena was a 24-gun Porcupine-class post-ship of the Royal Navy launched in 1778. The French captured her in 1793, took her into service as Hyène, and then sold her. She became a privateer that the British captured in 1797. The Royal Navy took her back into service as Hyaena and she continued to serve until the Navy sold her in 1802. The shipowner Daniel Bennett purchased her and renamed her Recovery. She made seven voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery and was broken up 1813.

HMS Snipe was a gun-brig and the first Royal Navy ship to bear the name Snipe. Her grounding in 1807 inspired the invention of the Manby Mortar, an important development in maritime lifesaving equipment.

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.

References

This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.