Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns and 4 × 32-pounder carronades
HMS Severn was an Endymion-classfrigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1813 as one of five heavy frigates built to match the powerful American frigates. The shortage of oak meant that she was built of "fir" (actually pine), which meant a considerably shortened lifespan. Nonetheless, the ship saw useful service, especially at the bombardment of Algiers in 1816, before being broken up in 1825.
Severn was ordered as a Leda-classfrigate of 38 guns, and was to have borne the name Tagus. Relative to her prototype, she received two more guns forward. Tagus was renamed Severn on 7 January 1813, i.e., well before her launching.[2]
War of 1812
Initially commissioned under the command of Captain Joseph Nourse, Severn served in the North Atlantic. On 18 January 1814 she was escorting a convoy from England to Bermuda when she encountered the French 40-gun frigates Sultane and Étoile.[2]Severn drew them away from the convoy, saving it. After a long chase, the French frigates gave up and sailed away.[lower-alpha 1]
Later the same year, on 1 May, she captured the American privateer schooner Yankee Lass, armed with nine guns and carrying a crew of 80 men. She was 20 days out of Rhode Island and had not made any captures.[5][6][lower-alpha 2] At the time, Severn was in company with Surprise.[8][lower-alpha 3]
Severn was among the several British warships that shared in the proceeds of the capture on 10 July of the American schooners William, Eliza, Union, and Emmeline, and the capture on 2 July of the schooner Little Tom.[10][lower-alpha 4]
In the late summer and autumn of 1814, Severn was an important participant in the War of 1812, as she was stationed in Chesapeake Bay to blockade the Patuxent River. It was from this point that the British launched their invasion of Maryland, which led to the Battle of Bladensburg and then the subsequent burning of Washington D.C. On 2 July Severn and Loire captured two schooners, two gun-boats, and a sloop.[12] They also destroyed a large store of tobacco.[13]
On 20 August Severn, the frigateHebrus, and the gun-brigManly sailed up the Patuxent to follow the boats as far as possible.[14] Admiral Alexander Cochrane and his force of marines and seamen entered Washington on the night of 24 August. The British then burnt the White House, the Treasury, and the War Office. They left at 9 o'clock on the evening of the next day and returned to Nottingham, Maryland, on the Patuxent where Cochrane boarded Manly. The campaign cost the Navy one man killed and six wounded, including one man of the Corps of Colonial Marines killed and three wounded.[15][lower-alpha 5][18]
The draught of this class of frigate was too deep to permit Severn and her sister ships from sailing into the harbour at Baltimore. Her sailors had to kedge rafts holding small cannon and rocket launchers seven miles up the river to Fort McHenry.[19] During the attack on Baltimore AdmiralSirGeorge Cockburn raised his flag on Severn. Although the navy contributed seamen and marines to the land attack, and took casualties, Severn did not suffer any losses.[20]
Between 1 October 1814 and 25 March 1815, Severn captured thirteen mostly small American merchant vessels, but with several armed vessels among them. These were:
schooner Speedwell, of five men and 34 tons;
brig May Flower, of 8 men 60 tons;
ship Anna Marie, of six men and 120 tons;
ship Betsy;
ship Virginia;
schooner Nonsuch, of five men and 65 tons;
ship Buonaparte;
ship Anna;
schooner Virginia;
schooner Brant;
ship Necessity, of four guns, 12 men, and 309 tons;
schooner Amelia, of 40 tons;
schooner Resolution; and
privateer brig Ino, of nine guns, 130 men, and 250 tons.[6][21]
On 10 January 1815, Cockburn landed on Cumberland Island in an effort to tie up American forces and keep them from joining other American forces to help defend New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Gulf Coast. The naval squadron consisted of Dragon (74-guns), Regulus (44 guns; en flute), Brune (56 guns; en flute), Severn, Hebrus (36 guns), Rota (38 guns), Primrose (18 guns), Terror and Devastation (both bomb vessels of 8 guns), and the schooners Canso (10 guns) and Whiting (12 guns).
Five days later a British force first bombarded and then landed near Fort Peter on Point Peter by the town of St. Marys. The British attacked and took the fort without suffering any casualties. They then headed for St. Marys along the St. Mary's River and captured it after skirmishing with a small American force. The British captured two American gunboats and 12 merchantmen, including the East IndiamanCountess of Harcourt, which an American privateer had captured on her way from India to London. The British ended their occupation of St. Marys after about a week and withdrew to Cumberland Island.[24]
On 26 February 1815, Severn recaptured the merchantman Adventure, which she sent in to Bermuda. This earned Severn salvage money for the vessel and her cargo.[25][lower-alpha 8]
Lastly, on 3 March, Severn destroyed the American privateer Ino (see above).[lower-alpha 9][lower-alpha 10] American accounts report that Ino grounded outside of Charleston on 7 March. As her crew was attempting to free Ino, Severn came on the scene and launched her boats to board Ino. Ino's crew, unaware that the war had ended on 15 February 1815, fired grapeshot and small arms at the British boats, causing them to shear off. Ino's crew then set fire to her and took to their boats and some improvised rafts. A schooner that came out from Charleston rescued almost all. Ino's crew believed that Captain Nourse of Severn had known for some days that the war had ended.[28] The delay of payment of the head money may have been due to the need to adjudicate the case.
Post-war
Severn was fitted at Chatham for foreign service between February and July 1816.[2] In February the Hon. Frederick W. Aylmer assumed command of Severn. He then sailed her to Gibraltar and then took part in the bombardment of Algiers on 27 August.[6] British casualties were heavy, though those of the Algerines were much heavier. Severn herself had three men killed and 34 wounded. As a result of the attack, the Dey agreed to abolish the enslavement of Christians in perpetuity, and to free all slaves whatsoever then in Algiers. The British also destroyed four large frigates, five large corvettes, numerous gunboats, and numerous merchant vessels.[29] King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies bestowed on Aylmer the cross of a Commander of the Royal Sicilian Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit.[30] Other captains and officers received similar awards. In May 1818 the participants in the battle were granted an award of £100,000.[lower-alpha 11] In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Algiers" to the 1328 surviving claimants from the battle.
Severn initially remained in the Mediterranean, first under Captain James Gordon and then under Captain Robert Spencer.[2] From May 1817 Severn saw service off the Kent and Sussex coasts in the Royal Naval Coast Blockade for the Prevention of Smuggling. under the command of Captain William ("Flogging Joey") McCulloch, scourge of the smugglers.[32]
On 6 August 1817 she seized a boat with foreign spirits and five empty boats.[lower-alpha 12] Three weeks later she seized Mary, with four smugglers and a quantity of tea, and also seized two empty boats.[lower-alpha 13]
On 15 December Severn seized Po, which was carrying a cargo of foreign spirits.[lower-alpha 14] On 29 March 1818 Severn seized Linot, which was carrying foreign spirits, and two smugglers.[34]
Fate
Severn was in ordinary at Portsmouth in 1822, but by 1824 was at Deptford.[6] She was put up for sale in June 1825 at Deptford,[35] and sold to John Small Sedger, Rotherhithe, for £3,610 on 20 July.[2]
↑ Yankee Lass, Bristol, Rhode Island, and of 107 tons (bm), was under the command of Benjamin K. Churchill. She had been commissioned on 4 April 1814.[7]
↑ In September 1815 prize money was paid for Yankee Lass. A first-class share was worth £40 6s 3d; a sixth-class share was worth 4s 6+3⁄4d.[9]
↑ For the first four schooners a first-class share was worth £20 6s 0+1⁄2d; a sixth-class share was worth 2s 7d. For the cargo of the Little Tom, a first-class share was worth £6 17s 3+1⁄2d; a sixth-class share was worth 11+1⁄2d.[11]
↑ Prize-money arising from the booty captured by the expedition in the River Patuxent, at Fort Washington, and Alexandria, between 22 and 29 August 1814, was paid in November 1817. Nourse, as captain, received a first-class share, which was worth £183 9s1+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share, which was what an ordinary seaman would receive, was worth £1 9s 3+1⁄2d.[16] A second and final payment came in May 1819. A first-class share was worth £42 13s 10+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth 9s 1+3⁄4d.[17]
↑ This was almost surely Bangor, of 216 tons (bm), which had been commissioned on 3 August 1814 under Captain John Barry.[7]
↑ Head money for the Banyer was paid in 1817. A first-class share was worth £24 5s 6+1⁄2d; a sixth-class share was worth 2s 6+3⁄4d.[23]
↑ A first-class share was worth £85 8s 10d; a sixth-class share was worth 13s 9d.[26]
↑ Ino was on her second cruise, this one under Captain John White. She had been commissioned on 15 December 1814. American records show her as a brig of 193 tons (bm).[7]
↑ A first-class share of the head money was worth £130 10s 6+1⁄2d; a sixth-class share was worth 15s 0+1⁄4d.[27]
↑ A first-class share was worth £1068 11s 6+1⁄2d; a sixth-class share was worth £4 10s 2+1⁄2d.[31]
↑ A first-class share was worth £28 6s 10d; a sixth-class share was worth 2s 1+1⁄2d.[33]
↑ A first-class share was worth £25 13s 4d; a sixth-class share was worth 1s 10+1⁄2d.[33]
↑ A first-class share was worth £24 9s 11d; a sixth-class share was worth 1s 8+1⁄2d.[33]
↑ In 1817 there was a further payment of prize money for the expedition in the River Patuxent, at Fort Washington, and Alexandria, between 22 and 29 August 1814. A first-class share was worth £183 9s 1+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 19s 3+1⁄2d.[16]
Nautilus was a schooner launched in 1799. The United States Navy purchased her in May 1803 and commissioned her USS Nautilus; she thus became the first ship to bear that name. She served in the First Barbary War. She was altered to a brigantine. The British captured Nautilus early in the War of 1812 and renamed her HMS Emulous. After her service with the Royal Navy, the Admiralty sold her in 1817.
HMS Fantome was an 18-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was originally a French privateer brig named Fantôme, which the British captured in 1810 and commissioned into British service. Fantome saw extensive action in the War of 1812 until she was lost in a shipwreck at Prospect, Nova Scotia, near Halifax in 1814.
HMS Belvidera was a Royal Navy 36-gun Apollo-class frigate built in Deptford in 1809. She saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and continued a busy career at sea into the middle of the 19th century. In 1846 she was reduced to harbour service, in 1860 she became a receiving ship, and she was finally disposed of in 1906.
HMS Acasta was a 40-gun Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate. She saw service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as the War of 1812. Although she never took part in any notable single-ship actions nor saw action in a major battle though she was at the Battle of San Domingo, she captured numerous prizes and rid the seas of many Spanish, French and American privateers. She was finally broken up in 1821.
HMS Havannah was a Royal Navy 36-gun fifth-rate frigate. She was launched in 1811 and was one of twenty-seven Apollo-class frigates. She was cut down to a 24-gun sixth rate in 1845, converted to a training ship in 1860, and sold for breaking up in 1905.
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HMS Niemen was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate. She began her career as the Niémen, a 44-gun French Navy Armide-class frigate, designed by Pierre Rolland. She was only in French service for a few months when in 1809 she encountered some British frigates. The British captured her and she continued in British service as Niemen. In British service she cruised in the Atlantic and North American waters, taking numerous small American prizes, some privateers but mostly merchantmen. She was broken up in 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
HMS Spartan was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate, launched at Rochester in 1806. During the Napoleonic Wars she was active in the Adriatic and in the Ionian Islands. She then moved to the American coast during the War of 1812, where she captured a number of small vessels, including a US Revenue Cutter and a privateer, the Dart. She then returned to the Mediterranean, where she remained for a few years. She went on to serve off the American coast again, and in the Caribbean, before being broken up in 1822.
HMS Forester was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John King and launched in 1806 at Dover. She had a relatively uneventful career before the Navy sold her in 1819.
HMS Amaranthe was an 18-gun Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John Dudman at Deptford Wharf and launched in 1804. She served in the Caribbean, taking part in an action and two campaigns that gained those members of her crew that survived until 1847 the NGSM. She was sold in 1815.
HMS Circe was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate frigate, built by Master Shipwright Joseph Tucker at Plymouth Dockyard, and launched in 1804. She served in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars, and participated in an action and a campaign for which in 1847 in the Admiralty authorised the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasps. The action, off the Pearl Rock, near Saint-Pierre, Martinique, was a debacle that cost Circe dearly. However, she also had some success in capturing privateers and a French brig. She was sold in 1814.
HMS Sophie was an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. During the War of 1812 Sophie participated in the economic war against American trade, capturing or destroying numerous small merchant vessels, and in an unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer, Alabama. Later, she moved to the East Indies where she served in the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Admiralty sold Sophie in 1825.
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HMS Swallow was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in December 1805, nine months late. She served the Royal Navy through the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous privateers. After the end of the wars she was broken up in 1815.
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 Moselle was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804. She served during the Napoleonic Wars in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the North American station. She was sold in 1815.
HMS Narcissus was the lead ship of the Royal Navy Narcissus-class 32-gun fifth-rate frigate, launched in 1801. She participated in the War of 1812.
HMS Barbadoes was a 16-gun vessel, the American Herald, captured in 1813. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Barbadoes She captured a number of merchantmen and privateers before she was paid-off in May 1816. In 1814–1815 she also captured three Spanish and French vessels carrying over 1100 slaves. Barbadoes became a powder ship in Jamaica that was later wrecked with her remains being sold.
References
Coggeshall, George (1856). History of the American Privateers, and Letters-Of-Marque. New York.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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