 Persian | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Persian |
| Builder | Daniel List, Cowes |
| Launched | 1809 |
| Fate | Wrecked, 26 June 1813 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Cruizer-class brig-sloop |
| Tons burthen | 38851⁄94 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 30 ft 6+1⁄4 in (9.3 m) |
| Depth of hold | 12 ft 9 in (3.9 m) |
| Sail plan | Brig |
| Complement | 121 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Persian was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Daniel List and launched at Cowes in 1809. [1] She captured two privateers before she wrecked in 1813.
She was commissioned under Commander Samuel Colquitt and spent her first year cruising in Channel. [1] On 26 December 1809 she recaptured Thames. [2] The next year, on 24 March, she sailed for the West Indies. [3] Then on 1 October, she was in company with HMS Owen Glendower, when Owen Glendower captured Indomptable and recaptured Roden. [4]
Colquitt received promotion to post captain on 21 October, the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Her next captain was Commander Charles Bertram, who was appointed on 21 October. [1]
On 5 April 1811, at 2pm, the signal station at Beachy Head signaled to Persian that a smuggling vessel was discharging her cargo nearby. Persian set out and after almost eight hours she saw a lugger heading for France. Persian fired two or three broadsides as she chased the lugger and an hour later the lugger struck. She was the privateer Ambuscade under the command of Nicholas Augustine Briganda and had been out from Dieppe for some 40 hours. She was armed with 14 guns and carried a crew of 36, though she normally carried 63 men. [5] Persian sent Ambuscade into Portsmouth. [6] [lower-alpha 1]
On 13 February 1812 Persian, in company with Orestes, [8] recaptured Arcadia. [9] Arcadia, Smiley, master, had been sailing from Nova Scotia to the Clyde with a cargo of timber when the French 14-gun privateer Gozelle [sic] captured her. [lower-alpha 2] After Persian recaptured Arcadia, Persian sent her into Dartmouth, where she arrived on 15 February in a very leaky state and with only the mate, of her original crew, aboard. [12]
On 3 March 1812 Persian recaptured the American brig Hannah. Hannah, of New York, had sailed from Savannah, with a cargo of timber when a French privateer captured her. After recapturing Hannah, Persian then set out to try to find the privateer, but without success. [13] The French privateer cutter had taken Hannah on 1 March, and Hannah arrived at Plymouth on 3 March, the same day that Persian had recaptured her. [14]
On 27 March, Persian, based out of Jersey, sighted a lugger sailing west of her. Persian chased the lugger and fired several broadsides as she did so. After three hours the lugger struck and proved to be the French privateer Petit Jean. She had had to throw eight of her 16 guns overboard during a gale that also washed away eight of her crew of 56. She was under the command of François Clemence and had left her home port of Dieppe eight days before but had not captured any prizes. [15] Persian sent Petit Jean into Guernsey, where she arrived the next day. [16] [lower-alpha 3]
On 4 October HMS Podargus captured the Danish sloop Speculation and shared the prize money with Persian, Erebus, Woodlark, and Plover by agreement. [18] Then on 17 October Persian and Erebus were again in company with Podargus when Podargus captured the Danish vessels Anna Maria, Twende Brodre, and two market-boats. [19] Next month, on 11 November Podargus captured Syerstadt, with Persian and Erebus in company. [20]
On 16 December Persian captured the Danish galliot Ebenetzer, with HMS Thracian in company. Erebus shared in the prize money by agreement with Persian. [21]
On 3 April 1813, Persian sailed for the West Indies, still under Bertram's command. [22] On 16 June she was wrecked on the Silver Cays (or Keys) Bank, just north of the island of Hispaniola, after having set out from Port-au-Prince earlier that day. The Persian ran aground while pursuing the American privateer schooner Saucy Jack, captained by John P. Chazal out of Charleston, SC. Bertram tried to lighten Persian by throwing some guns and stores overboard with the result that she floated off, only to hit another reef. Eventually, despite the crew's exertions, she broke her back and foundered. On 27 June the crew crowded into her four boats (a makeshift raft broke apart) and on 28 June they came ashore between Cabo Frances (formerly called Cap Français) and Cabo Cabron in San Domingo. [23] [24] None of her crew of 126 men was lost. [22] [25] However, 11 seamen took advantage of the opportunity to desert the Navy. [26]
Bertram and part of his crew arrived at Saint Thomas's on 23 July aboard the sloop Governor Hodgson, Darrell, master, which had been sailing from Porto Plate. [27]
The court martial, under Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland, convened in Goliath at the Saints in October determined that the loss was the result of either a strong southerly current setting at a rate of 4 knots or that the Admiralty charts showed the shoals 20 miles too far to the south. [26] The court praised the conduct of Bertram, his officers and his crew. Bertram received a promotion to post captain on 7 June 1814, but never served again.
Notes
Citations
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.
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HMS Moucheron was a French privateer, built in 1799, that the British captured in 1801 and that the British government purchased in 1802 for the Royal Navy. She foundered in 1807 in the Mediterranean without leaving a trace.
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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 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.
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His Majesty's hired armed schooner Lady Charlotte served the British Royal Navy on contract between 28 October 1799 and 28 October 1801. She had a burthen of 120 85⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronades. As a hired armed vessel she captured several privateers and recaptured a number of British merchant vessels. After her service with the Royal Navy, she apparently sailed as a letter of marque until the French captured her in 1806.
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Numerous French privateers have borne the name Vengeur ("Avenger"):
Spéculateur was a lugger from Saint-Malo, commissioned in 1806. She made six cruises against British merchant shipping until the British Royal Navy captured her in 1813.
HMS Decoy was launched in 1810. She participated in the capture of several small French privateers, captured or recaptured a number of merchant vessels, and captured a number of smuggling vessels. The French captured her in 1814.
Antoine-Joseph Preira, also known under the nom de guerre of Balidar, was of Portuguese origin but operated in the English Channel as a privateer under the French flag during 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 Attack was launched in 1804 as a later Archer-class gunbrig. Danish gunboats captured Attack in August 1812.
HMS Favorite was an 18-gun Cormorant-class ship-sloop, launched in 1806 and broken up in 1821. In her career she sailed as far North America, the Caribbean, Africa, South America, and the Far East. She captured or recaptured several merchant ships and a handful of privateers.
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.
HMS Zephyr was a 14-gun Crocus-class brig of the Royal Navy that was launched in 1809. She captured two armed vessels. The Navy sold her in 1818 for breaking up.
