Service
Sabrina was commissioned under Commander Edward Kittoe in September 1806 and he sailed her to the Mediterranean on 4 January 1807. At some point, her boats and those of her squadron attacked a Spanish flotilla. A subsequent expedition saw her boats and those of Chiffonne cut out a brig and a schooner under the guns of a 4-gun battery on the south coast of Spain. On 20 November she and Euryalus were in company with Niger when Niger captured the Lady Washington. [3]
In early 1809 Kittoe sailed Sabrina to Cartagena, Colombia, bringing the news that Spain and England had signed a peace. Some dual citizens (Anglo-Americans) held prisoner in Colombia asked him to intercede with the viceroy for their freedom, which he did, but to no avail, as they had been incarcerated at the behest of the Captain General of Caracas. [4]
In 1809 she participated in the ill-fated Walcheren Campaign. [5] At one point during the campaign, she served as the flagship for Admiral Keats. [6] During the campaign Rear Admiral William Albany Ottway appointed Commander Abraham Lowe to take command of her. [4] [7]
On Sabrina's return to Britain, in January 1810 Lowe transferred to command of Diligence. Sabrina then came under the command of Commander James Tillard, who sailed her for Portugal on 20 July.
In October 1810 Sabrina escorted a convoy of transport ships from Oporto to Lisbon, transferring about 4000 French prisoners that Colonel Trant's raid captured at Coimbra. [8]
Sabrina Island: During June and July 1811 a volcanic eruption in the sea formed a new island off São Miguel Island. Commander Tillard went ashore on 4 July and claimed the island for Great Britain, naming it Sabrina Island. He later wrote a description of what he had seen and done for the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. [10] The claiming of the island gave rise to considerable diplomatic wrangling that proved moot when the island subsided into the sea a few months later. [11]
In November 1811 Captain the Honourable William Walpole took command and sailed Sabrina for Portugal on 19 November. On 30 December Sabrina and Vesta captured Princess de Beira (or Princess Beira). [12] A prize money notice, however, names Tillard as captain of Sabrina, which is inconsistent with Walpole having replaced Tillard in November. [13]
On 13 January 1812, Sabrina and Vesta captured the slave schooner Pepe off the coast of Africa. [lower-alpha 1]
In May command passed to Captain Alexander R. MacKenzie, who sailed her to Portugal. In June she brought back to England Captain Samuel Hood Linzee of Union, who had been knifed by a seaman and was no longer well enough to command.Sabrina shared with many vessels in the proceeds of the detention on 5 August, of Asia. [lower-alpha 2]
On 5 January 1813, Sabrina and Myrtle detained Edward and Albert. [18] [lower-alpha 3]
HMS Oberon was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class built at Kingston upon Hull and launched in 1805. She was constructed at the James Shepheard Shipyard, Sutton.
HMS Hesper was a British Royal Navy 18-gun ship-sloop of the Cormorant class, launched in 1809 at Dartmouth. Her original builder, Benjamin Tanner, became bankrupt during her construction, so John Cock completed her. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gun sixth rate ship ; in 1817 she was again re-rated, this time as 26 guns. She served primarily in the Indian Ocean. In 1810 she participated in the Invasion of Isle de France. The next year Hesper participated in the capture of Java, which she followed in 1812 by capturing Timor. She was sold in 1817.
HMS Frolic was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built by Boole, of Bridport and was launched on 9 February 1806. Although she took part in the capture of Martinique, Guadaloupe, and Saint Martin, she appears to have had an uneventful career until 8 October 1812, when the American sloop-of-war USS Wasp captured her after a fierce fight. Later that day the British recaptured Frolic and captured Wasp. Frolic was broken up in 1813.
HMS Recruit was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1806 at Sandwich, Kent. She is best known for an act of pique by Commander Warwick Lake, who marooned a seaman, and for an inconclusive but hard-fought ship action under Commander Charles John Napier against the French corvette Diligente. She captured a number of American vessels as prizes during the War of 1812 before being laid up in 1815 and sold for breaking up in 1822.
HMS Ringdove was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop that Matthew Warren built at Brightlingsea and launched in 1806. She took some prizes and participated in three actions or campaigns that qualified her crew for clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. The Admiralty sold her in 1829 to Samuel Cunard, who would go on to found the Cunard Line.
HMS Calypso was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop. She was built at Deptford Wharf between 1804 and 1805, and launched in 1805. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic, most notably at the Battle of Lyngør, which effectively ended the Gunboat War. Calypso was broken up in March 1821.
During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, two vessels have served the British Royal Navy as His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Idas, named for Idas, a figure from Greek mythology.
His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Princess Augusta served the Royal Navy from 12 July 1803 to 2 May 1814. She was armed with eight 4-pounder guns, had a complement of 26 men, and was of 7056⁄94 tons (bm). She participated in several single ship actions and took several prizes before the Navy returned her to her owners near the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Eclair was a French Navy schooner launched in 1799 and captured in 1801. The British took her into service under her French name and armed her with twelve 12-pounder carronades. In 1804 she engaged in a noteworthy, albeit indecisive single ship action with the 22-gun French privateer Grande Decide. In 1809 she was renamed Pickle. In December 1812 she and three other small British vessels engaged the French 40-gun frigate Gloire in another noteworthy and indecisive action. She was sold in 1818.
HMS Colibri was the French naval Curieux-class brig Colibri, launched in 1808, that the British captured in 1809 and took into the Royal Navy under her existing name. She spent her time in British service on the North American station based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the War of 1812, Colibri served mostly in blockading the American coast and capturing privateers and merchant ships. She foundered in 1813 in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, but without loss of life.
HMS Piercer was a Royal Navy Archer-class gun-brig launched in 1804. She served against the French, Danes and Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars and was assigned to the Downs station. She participated in a number of operations in the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel, and the North Sea. In 1814 the British government transferred Piercer to the Kingdom of Hanover for use as a guard ship. Hanover decommissioned her in 1850.
HMS Linnet was originally His Majesty’s revenue cutter Speedwell, launched in 1797, that the Royal Navy purchased in 1806. Linnet captured a number of privateers before the French frigate Gloire captured her in 1813. The French sold or transferred her to the Americans, who operated her as the privateer Bunkers Hill. In March 1814 the British recaptured her, but did not return her to service.
Puissant was built in 1781-82 to a design by Antoine Groignard as a Pégase class 74-gun ship of the line. Her captain handed her over to the British at Toulon on 29 August 1793. She arrived at Portsmouth on 3 May 1794. She then remained there as an unarmed receiving ship, sheer hulk, and flagship until her sale in 1816.
HMS Lightning was launched in 1806 as a Thais-class fireship. Like the other members of her class she was quickly converted to a sloop. She participated in the second Battle of Copenhagen, captured a number of small prizes, and was sold in 1816.
HMS Vesta was an Adonis-class schooner of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. She was built at Bermuda using Bermudan cedar and completed in 1806. She appears to have had an astonishingly uneventful decade-long career before the Admiralty sold her in 1816. She became a merchantman, sailing between the United Kingdom and Newfoundland until May 1823 when she sank after hitting an iceberg.
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.
HMS Daphne was launched at Topsham, England in 1806. During her naval career Daphne operated primarily in the Baltic where she took part in one notable cutting-out expedition, and captured one small privateer and numerous small Danish merchant vessels. In 1816 the Admiralty sold her after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and she became a merchant ship, while retaining the name Daphne. She made one voyage to Australia in 1819 transporting convicts. Thereafter she traded with India and was last listed in 1824.
'HMS Partridge was a Cormorant-class ship-sloop launched in 1809. She captured some small vessels while serving in the Mediterranean in 1813–1814. She participated in the blockade of Naples in 1815 with the result that her officers and crew received a great deal of prize money for its fall. She was broken up in 1816.
HMS Parthian was launched at Deptford in 1808. During the Napoleonic Wars she captured one important French privateer, and several Danish, Dutch, and French merchantmen. After the war, Parthian captured a pirate schooner near Vera Cruz. Parthian was wrecked off Alexandria on 15 May 1828.
HMS Avenger was the collier Thames, launched in 1803, that the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 and renamed. durng 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.
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