HMS Portia (1810)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Portia.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Portia
Ordered	30 March 1807
Builder	Deptford Dockyard (M/s Robert Nelson)
Laid down	December 1809
Launched	30 August 1810
Fate	Sold 6 March 1817
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Crocus-class brig-sloop
Type	Brig-sloop
Tons burthen	25141⁄94 (bm)
Length	Overall: 92 ft (28.0 m) Keel: 72 ft 8 in (22.1 m)
Beam	25 ft 7 in (7.8 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 8 in (3.9 m)
Sail plan	Brig rigged
Complement	86
Armament	2 × 6-pounder bow chasers + 12 × 24-pounder carronades

HMS Portia was a 14-gun Crocus-class brig of the Royal Navy that was launched in 1810. She had a relatively uneventful career before the Navy sold her in 1817 for breaking up.

Career

Commander Joseph Symes commissioned Portia in September 1810 for the North Sea. ^[1]

In July 1811 Lloyd's List reported that Rebecca, Robloff, master, had arrived at Yarmouth after Portia had detained her. ^[2]

Commander Henry Thompson recommissioned her in August 1811. Early in September 1811, Primus, carrying tar and hemp, Worksam, in ballast, Experiment, carrying iron, Columbus, carrying linseed, Neptunus, carrying timber, and Hector, carrying sundry goods, came into Yarmouth. They were prizes to HMS Tremendous, Ranger, Calypso, Algerine, Musquito, Earnest. and Portia. ^[3] On 14 August 1812 Portia captured the Dutch schuyt Phoenix.

In August 1813 Lieutenant William Adams took temporary command. ^[1]

On 18 September 1814, she departed Plymouth with a squadron, led by the capital ships Bedford and Norge , that carried the advance guard of Major General John Keane's army, destined for North America. ^{[4] [5]} On 3 November 1814, she arrived at Bermuda, carrying dispatches. ^{[6] [7]}

On 26 February 1815, she departed Bermuda, arriving at Barbados on 18 March 1815. ^[8] On 21 March, she set sail for Trinidad and Tobago with the convoy. ^[9] On 27 April 1815 Lieutenant Silas Thomson Hood was promoted to Commander; ^[10] he commissioned Portia for the Halifax station. ^[1] She was moored at Bermuda between 4 May and 12 May 1815. ^{[11] [12]} She was ordered to remain in North America. ^[13] On 29 July 1815 Portia captured the sloop Sylph at Bermuda. ^[a] On 26 August 1815 she arrived at Bermuda. On 14 November 1815, she sailed to New Providence. ^[15]

On 1 May 1816 Commander John Wilson was appointed to command of Portia, still on the Halifax Station, to take her back to England. ^[16] Portia sailed for England on 16 July 1816 and was paid off in August, ^[1] after having arrived in Portsmouth on 7 August 1816. ^[17]

Fate

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered Portia for sale on 30 January 1817 at Sheerness. ^[18] She finally sold on 6 March 1817 to Mr. Marclark for £800 for breaking up. ^[1]

Notes

1. A first-class share of the prize money was worth £3 16s 3+3⁄4 d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 3s 2+1⁄4d. ^[14]

Citations

1. Winfield (2008), p. 309.
2. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4577. 5 July 1811. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735025 . Retrieved 24 May 2022.
3. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4596. 10 September 1811. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105232920 . Retrieved 24 May 2022.
4. "Naval Intelligence etc". Saint James's Chronicle. 22 September 1814. p. 3. Retrieved 27 June 2020. Plymouth,. Sept. 19. - His Majesty's ships Norge, Bedford, Dover, Alceste, Belle Poule, Hydra, Fox, Gorgon, Ulysses, Bucephalus, and the Norfolk transport... sailed yesterday with a find wind; their destination is supposed Bermuda.
5. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. 27 September 1814. p. 2. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
6. "St. George's, Bermuda, Nov. 12". Royal Gazette of Jamaica. 31 December 1814. p. 11. Retrieved 5 March 2020. Arrived, since our last, the Amphion frigate, with a convoy, having a detachment. of the 29th and 63rd regiments from Cork; Portia, with dispatches from England; Pomona on a cruise; and Wolverine, with a convoy, from New-Providence.
7. "America" . Leicester Chronicle. 24 December 1814. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2014. Bermuda, Nov. 6,1814. The Portia sloop of war, Capt. Thompson, arrived here on the 3rd. We understand she is the avaunt courier of a naval and military force which left Portsmouth and Plymouth in the middle of September, for this island, under the command of General Keane, and the orders of Captain Walker of his Majesty's ship Bedford.
8. "Bridgetown". Barbados Mercury and Bridge-town Gazette. 18 March 1815. p. 2. Retrieved 16 May 2021. His Majesty's brig Portia, with eight Vessels under her protection from Bermuda, arrived this morning, in 20 days passage.
9. "Bridgetown". Barbados Mercury and Bridge-town Gazette. 21 March 1815. p. 2. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
10. Marshall (1833), p. 359.
11. "Portsmouth" . Hampshire Telegraph. 29 May 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 2 June 2013. When the Pandora left Bermuda [on 4 May 1815]... the ships lying at Bermuda, beside, were - Bulwark (Adm. Griffith), Madagascar, Portia, Jasseur, Espoir, and Terror bomb [vessel].
12. "Naval Intelligence" . Star (London). 13 June 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 3 October 2019. The LACEDEMONIAN, Captain Jackson, which arrived last week at Portsmouth, sailed from Bermuda on the 12th of May. Rear-Admiral Griswold, in the BULWARK, with the ARAXES, JASEUR, and PORTIA, were lying at Bermuda.
13. "Shipping Intelligence" . Royal Cornwall Gazette. 27 May 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 29 May 2013. Among the ships ordered to remain on the American station, until relieved by others from England are the Bulwark, Orlando, Madagascar, Lacedemonian, Jasseur, and Portia.
14. "No. 17519". The London Gazette . 25 September 1819. p. 1707.
15. "Shipping Intelligence" . Royal Cornwall Gazette. 23 December 1815. p. 2. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
16. Marshall (1832), p. 14=59.
17. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. 9 August 1816. p. 1. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
18. "No. 17125". The London Gazette . 6 April 1816. p. 645.

References

• Marshall, John (1833). "Hood, Silas Thomson"  . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. 4, part 1. London: Longman and Company. p. 357–359.
• Marshall, John (1832). "Wilson, John (b)"  . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. 3, part 2. London: Longman and Company. p. 159.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-246-7.