HMS Rattler (1797)

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History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameHope
LaunchedLeith, or Dysart, Fife
FateSold March 1797
Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svgGreat Britain
NameGB No.41
RenamedHMS Rattler
FateSold 1802
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHope
FateLast listed in 1816
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen155, [2] or 156, or 158 (bm)
Length
  • Overall: 72 ft 7 in (22.1 m)
  • Keel: 59 ft 3 in (18.1 m)
Beam22 ft 4 in (6.8 m)
Depth of hold9 ft 4+34 in (2.9 m)
Complement50
Armament
  • 1797:2 × 18-pounder guns + 10 × 18-pounder carronades
  • 1810: 4 × 6-pounder carronades
  • 1812: 2 × 3-pounder guns

HMS Rattler was the mercantile Hope that the Royal Navy purchased at Leith in 1797. It initially named her GB No.41, and then renamed her HMS Rattler. The Navy sold her in 1802. She returned to the name Hope and became a merchantman trading with Hamburg, Gibraltar, and lastly, Cowes. She was last listed in 1816.

Contents

Career

The Royal Navy commissioned Rattler in September 1797 under Lieutenant John Gibbs. He died, probably before but possibly after Lieutenant Samuel Wickham took command of Rattler in June 1798, for the North Sea. On 18 July 1801 she arrived at Elsinor, having escorted the Leith fleet. The Navy sold Rattler on 31 May 1802, shortly after the Peace of Amiens took effect.

Rattler returned to her original name, Hope, and first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1802. [2]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1802M.TateCaptain & Co.London–HamburgLR; raised 1802
1804M.TateW.WithamLiverpool–London
London–Toning
LR; raised 1802
1807P.TateCaptain & Co.London–HamburgLR; raised 1802
1809P.Tate
W.Gibson
WaltonLondon–HamburgRegister of Shipping
1810W.Gibson
M.Lewish
Walton
Vickerman
London–GibraltarRegister of Shipping
1811M.Lewish
Vickerman
Vickerman
Lavers
Plymouth
London–Gibraltar
LR; raised 1802
1812M.LourishN.LaversCowes–LondonLR; raised 1802

Fate

Hope was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1816 with data unchanged since 1812.

Citations

  1. Winfield (2008), p. 334.
  2. 1 2 LR (1802), Seq.No.H112.

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HMS Alecto was an Alecto-class sloop designed by Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy. Originally classed as a steam vessel (SV3), her classification would be changed to a Third Class Sloop. She initially served in the Mediterranean, prior to her tug of war with the Rattler. She spent her time in the Americas and mainly on the anti-slavery patrol off the west coast of Africa. She was broken in November 1865

HMS Pouncer was the mercantile David, launched in 1785 at Leith, that the Admiralty purchased and armed in 1797 as GB No.38. David originally sailed to the Baltic and then to the Mediterranean. From 1793 or so till her sale to the Admiralty she sailed as a transport under contract to the Transport Board. The Navy renamed GB No.38 HMS Pouncer, and she was the only naval vessel ever to bear that name. The Navy sold Pouncer in 1802 following the Peace of Amiens. She then returned to mercantile service as the West Indiaman David. Under several masters and owners she traded more widely. In 1816 she sank, but was recovered.

References