| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Pheasant |
| Builder | Edwards of Shoreham |
| Launched | 1798 |
| Fate | Sold on 11 July 1827 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | 18-gun sloop |
| Tons burthen | 365 bm |
| Length | 106 feet (32 m) |
| Beam | 30 feet (9.1 m) |
| Armament | 18 guns |
HMS Pheasant was an 18-gun Merlin class sloop of the Royal Navy.
She was built in 1798 for the Royal Navy at a cost of £8,087 (equivalent to £905,700in 2021). [1]
From 1798 to 1803 she was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On 14 April, 1799 she and HMS Lynx captured the American merchant ship General Washington, claiming US Army arms and military stores on board were "contraband". [2]
In 1805 she was based at the Leeward Island Station. In 1807 she was involved in the Battle of Montevideo (1807) in the Rio de la Plata. On 6 January 1807 Pheasant was in company with Leda and Leda at the capture of Ann, Denning, master. [3]
In 1808 she was stationed with the Channel Fleet. On 8 May she captured the French privateer vessel Tropard, formerly Flying Fish. Then on 20 October 1808, Pheasant was in company when Brilliant captured and destroyed the French privateer Ponte du Jour. [4] [5]
On 4 November 1809 Pheasant recaptured Traveller. [6] On 16 November 1809 she re-captured the brig Trust, in company with Rhin. [7]
Later on 3 February 1810, she captured the privateer lugger Comte De Hunebourg from St Malo. Pheasant, under the command of Captain John Palmer, lured the privateer close, with the privateer firing the first shot. The two vessels exchanged fire but it took a four-hour chase before Pheasant was able to make the capture. Comte De Hunebourg, of about 80 tons (bm), had been armed with 14 guns, which she threw overboard during the chase, and had a crew of 53 men. She was three days out of Isle of Bas on her second cruise, but had not yet captured anything. [8]
In October Pheasant recaptured London, of London, which a French privateer had taken. London arrived in Plymouth on 19 October. Pheasant also recaptured Elizabeth, Aiken, master, which had been captured while sailing from Lisbon to Bristol. She arrived in Plymouth on 19 September. [9]
On 17 June 1811, Pheasant captured Héros. [10]
On 1 May 1812 Pheasant, with Semiramis and Scylla, was involved in the detention of the American ship Jenny. [11]
Later in 1812 Pheasant was repaired and refitted in Plymouth at a cost of £11,587 (equivalent to £821,050in 2021). [1] . As soon as she was seaworthy, she was back in action and on 14 December 1812 captured the American schooner Hope. [12]
On 12 March 1813, Pheasant and Warspite captured the schooner William, a U.S. privateer. On 23 April she was in company with Whiting and Scylla. After a chase of over 100 miles, the British vessels captured the American 8-gun brig Fox, which threw two of her guns overboard during the chase. Fox and her 29-man crew were underway from Bordeaux to Philadelphia. [13]
From 1814 to 1818 Pheasant was based in the Channel Fleet. In 1819 she joined the Africa Station patrols off the coast of Africa near Sierra Leone. On 30 July she detained the Portuguese slave trader Nova Felicidade. On 6 October she stopped the Portuguese slave trader Vulcano. [14] There were several deaths of crew due to an outbreak of yellow fever.
On 25 July 1821, with Myrmidon, she stopped the Portuguese slave vessel Adelaide, with 232 slaves on board.
She was sold on 11 July 1827 for £1,250 (equivalent to £115,100in 2021). [1] to John Small Sedger, Rotherhithe for breaking.
An image of HMS Pheasant appears on a 10p postage stamp of the Ascension Islands. [15]
HMS Naiad was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was built by Hall and Co. at Limehouse on the Thames, launched in 1797, and commissioned in 1798. She served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and her last actions occurred in 1824–5. She was paid off in 1826. She then served for many years in Latin America as a coal depot, first for the Royal Navy and then for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. She was broken up in 1898, 101 years after her launching.
HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1858.
HMS Wolverine was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop, launched in 1805 at Topsham, near Exeter. Early in her career she was involved in two fratricidal incidents, one involving a British frigate and then a newsworthy case in which she helped capture a British slave ship. She later captured a small naval vessel and several privateers, and took part in the invasion of Martinique, and during the War of 1812, in the attack on Baltimore. Wolverine was decommissioned in August or September 1815 and was sold on 15 February 1816.
HMS Unicorn was a 32-gun fifth-rate Pallas-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Chatham. This frigate served in both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, including a medal action early in her career. She was broken up in 1815.
HMS Spitfire was a Tisiphone-class fireship of the Royal Navy. She served during the years of peace following the end of the American War of Independence, and by the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, had been reclassified as a 14-gun sloop-of-war. Spitfire went on to serve under a number of notable commanders during a successful career that saw her capture a considerable number of French privateers and small naval vessels. She spent most of her career in Home waters, though during the later part of her life she sailed further afield, to the British stations in North America and West Africa. She survived the Napoleonic Wars and was eventually sold in 1825 after a period spent laid up.
Rhin was a 40-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1802. She was present at two major battles while in French service. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806. Thereafter Rhin served until 1815 capturing numerous vessels. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she was laid up and then served as a hospital for many years. She was finally broken up in 1884.
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.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the British Royal Navy made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's hired armed cutter Nimrod. Three such vessels are recorded, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches, and performed reconnaissance.
The Royal Navy used several vessels that were described as His Majesty's hired armed cutter King George. Some of these may have been the same vessel on repeat contract.
HMS Clyde was a Royal Navy Artois-class frigate built at Chatham Dockyard of fir, and launched in 1796. In 1797, she was one of only two ships whose captains were able to maintain some control over their vessels during the Nore mutiny. In 1805, HMS Clyde was dismantled and rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard; she was relaunched on 23 February 1806. She was ultimately sold in August 1814.
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 Minorca was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1805. She served during the Napoleonic Wars in the Mediterranean and was broken up after an uneventful career.
Éole was an 18-gun corvette of the French Navy, launched, captured, and later commissioned in the Royal Navy in 1799 as HMS Nimrod after her capture by HMS Solebay. She was then "the finest and most handsome ship-sloop in the British navy". She was sold in 1811. Nimrod made three whaling voyages between 1811 and 1819. On her first she captured several American whalers. Nimrod was last listed in 1820.
HMS Derwent was launched in 1807 and later that year became one of the first ships sent by the British Royal Navy to suppress the slave trade.
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 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 Barbadoes was originally a French privateer and then slave ship named Brave or Braave. A British slave ship captured her in September 1803. In 1803–1804 she became the British privateer Barbadoes for a few months. In 1804 the inhabitants of Barbados purchased her and donated her to the Royal Navy, which took her into service as HMS Barbadoes. She wrecked on 27 September 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.
