HMS Sabrina (1806)

Last updated

The Sabrina eruption off the Azores in 1811.jpg
Volcano in the Sea, as seen from His Majesty's Ship Sabrina, off the Azores, 19 June 1811, by Lt John William Miles
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Sabrina
Ordered12 July 1805
BuilderRobert Adams, Chapel, Southampton
Laid downDecember 1805
Launched1 September 1806
Completed30 November 1806 at Portsmouth Dockyard
CommissionedSeptember 1806
Out of serviceSold 18 April 1816
General characteristics [1]
Class and type18-gun Cormorant-class sloop
Tons burthen42642⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 108 ft 3 in (33.0 m) (overall)
  • 90 ft 7 in (27.6 m) (keel)
Beam29 ft 9 in (9.1 m)
Depth of hold9 ft 0+1⁄2 in (2.76 m)
Sail plan Ship
Complement121
Armament
  • Upper deck: 16 × 32-pounder carronades
  • QD: 6 × 18-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder long guns + 2 × 18-pounder carronades

HMS Sabrina was an 18-gun Royal Navy ship-sloop of the Cormorant-class, launched in 1806 at Southampton. She seems to have had a surprisingly uneventful career before the Admiralty sold her in 1816.

Contents

Design

Sabrina was one of the second batch of Cormorant-class ship-sloops. As such she carried 32-pounder carronades in her main battery instead of 6-pounder guns. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gun post-ship, and again re-rated as 24 guns in 1816, just before she was sold. Under the rating system of the day her number of guns could be largely nominal (in this case the number of long guns she would have carried had she been so-armed); the re-rating included her carronades in the total and did not involve any actual change to her armament.

Service

Sabrina was commissioned under Commander Edward Kittoe in September 1806 and he sailed her to the Mediterranean on 4 January 1807. [1] 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. [2] 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. [1]

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. [9] [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. [1] 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. [1] 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. [16] 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]

Fate

The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Sabrina sloop, of 427 tons", lying at Deptford, for sale on 18 April. [20] Sabrina was sold on 18 April 1816 at Portsmouth. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ A first class share of the prize money for Pepe and the bounty for slaves captured on Princess de Beira was worth £404 6s 7½d. A sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £6 9s 11½d. However, £401 was retained by to meet expenses arising from appeals re the case of the Princess de Beira. [14] Unfortunately, the prize agent, Henry Abbott, went bankrupt. It was not until May 1835 that a final dividend was paid from his estate. [12] The Navy List also gives the date of capture for Pepe as 13 June 1812. a first class share of the final payment for Princess de Beira was worth £41 5s 6d; a sixth-class share was worth 33s 2¼d. A first-class share of the final payment for Pepe was worth £9 18s 9d; a sixth class share was worth 3s 2¼d. [15]
  2. ↑ A first-class share was worth £9 10s 10d; a sixth-class share was worth 2s 6d. [17]
  3. ↑ In the case of Myrtle a first-class share of the allocation of expenses of $1000 was worth £18 6s 2½d. A sixth-class share was worth 7s 5½d. [19]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Winfield (2008), pp. 259–50.
  2. ↑ O'Byrne (1849), p. 197.
  3. ↑ "No. 16402". The London Gazette . 4 September 1810. p. 1355.
  4. 1 2 The American historical review, Volume 3, pp.694-5.
  5. ↑ "No. 16650". The London Gazette . 26 September 1812. p. 1971.
  6. ↑ "No. 16282". The London Gazette . 7 August 1809. pp. 1233–1234.
  7. ↑ "No. 16328". The London Gazette . 26 December 1809. p. 2057.
  8. ↑ Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington (1834). The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K. G. During His Various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Countries, and France: Peninsula, 1809-1813. J. Murray. p.  514. sabrina.
  9. ↑ Tillard (1812), pp. 152–8.
  10. ↑ Jamleson (1821), Vol. 1, pp.43-7.
  11. ↑ "Geology of the Azores at EWP.net". Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  12. 1 2 Admiralty (1835), Navy List, pp.166-7.
  13. ↑ "No. 17818". The London Gazette . 18 May 1822. p. 828.
  14. ↑ "No. 17148". The London Gazette . 25 June 1816. p. 1223.
  15. ↑ "No. 19255". The London Gazette . 3 April 1835. p. 644.
  16. ↑ Marshall (1833), pp. 156–7.
  17. ↑ "No. 17229". The London Gazette . 11 March 1817. p. 614.
  18. ↑ "No. 16978". The London Gazette . 24 January 1815. p. 132.
  19. ↑ "No. 17027". The London Gazette . 20 June 1815. p. 1198.
  20. ↑ "No. 17125". The London Gazette . 6 April 1816. p. 645.

Related Research Articles

French frigate <i>Néréide</i> (1779)

Néréide was a Sibylle-class, 32-gun, copper-hulled frigate of the French Navy. On 22 December 1797 HMS Phoebe captured her and she was taken into British service as HMS Nereide. The French recaptured her at the Battle of Grand Port, only to lose her again when the British took Isle de France, in 1810. After the Battle of Grand Port she was in such a poor condition that she was laid up and sold for breaking up in 1816.

HMS <i>Otter</i> (1805) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Otter was a Royal Navy 16-gun Merlin-class sloop, launched in 1805 at Hull. She participated in two notable actions in the Indian Ocean and was sold in 1828.

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 <i>Recruit</i> (1806) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Calypso</i> (1805) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

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.

HMS <i>Belette</i> (1806) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Belette was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop, built by King at Dover and launched on 21 March 1806. During the Napoleonic Wars she served with some success in the Baltic and the Caribbean. Belette was lost in the Kattegat in 1812 when she hit a rock off Læsø.

HMS <i>Musquito</i> (1804) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Musquito. was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John Preston at Great Yarmouth and launched in 1804. She was commissioned in October 1804 under Commander Samuel Jackson. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic, and Jackson supervised the first successful rocket attack in Europe at Boulogne in 1806. After the war she served off Africa and captured some slavers. She was broken up in 1822, having been laid up since 1818.

HMS <i>Salsette</i> (1805) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Salsette was a Perseverance-class fifth-rate frigate of a nominal 36 guns, launched in 1805. The East India Company built her for the Royal Navy at the company's dockyards in Bombay. She was the Navy's first teak-built ship.

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 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 <i>Lightning</i> (1806) Sloop of the Royal Navy

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 Sylvia 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 took part in one notable single-ship action in the East Indies in 1810. The Navy sold her in 1816 and she then became a merchantman. She was wrecked in 1823 on a voyage to West Africa.

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 <i>Espoir</i> (1804) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Espoir was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, primarily in the Mediterranean, and then briefly on the North American station. She was broken up in April 1821.

HMS <i>Daphne</i> (1806) Ship, 1806

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 <i>Royalist</i> (1807) Sloop of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Parthian</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

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 Britomart was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched in 1808. She participated in the capture of several small privateers and merchant vessels. She was also at the bombardment of Algiers (1816). The Navy sold Britomart in 1819. She then entered mercantile service. She sailed to South America, Van Dieman's Land (VDL), and the Indian Ocean. She spent much of her time sailing between England and VDL, and between VDL and the Australian mainland. She foundered in 1839 on her way between Port Phillip and Hobart.

HMS Prospero was a 14-gun Crocus-class brig of the Royal Navy, launched in 1809. She captured a handful of small vessels, including one privateer. The Navy sold her in 1816 for breaking up.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.