| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Shark |
| Acquired | 1794 |
| Fate | Crew mutinied in 1795 and handed her over to the French |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Hoy |
| Tons burthen | 63 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 14 ft 3+1⁄4 in (4.3 m) |
| Depth of hold | 6 ft 4 in (1.9 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Complement | 30 |
| Armament | 1 × 24-pounder gun + 3 × 32-pounder carronades |
HMS Shark was a former Dutch hoy that the British Admiralty purchased in 1794 for service with the Royal Navy. In 1795 her crew mutinied and handed her over to the French.
The Admiralty ordered her purchase on 3 February 1794 and registered her on 7 March. She was commissioned under Lieutenant Charles Burlton in April. [1]
In March 1795 Lieutenant Titus Allardyce replaced Burlton, and Shark joined Admiral Sir Sidney Smith’s squadron. Smith assigned all his gunvessels to the defence of the Îles Saint-Marcouf, which are some three and a half miles from the French coast and about nine miles south-east of Cape La Hogue, and which consist of two islands, West and East. The gunvessels and the shore batteries and redoubts the British erected on the islands were under the overall command of Lieutenant Henry Hicks of the former hoy Hawke.
On 21 July 1795 Allardyce assisted Hicks in disciplining a boatswain's mate by the name of Shepherd who was neglecting his work on building a battery on one of the islands. This escalated into a situation that involved counter-charges and the confinement of Hicks, Allardyce, and Lieutenant James Gomm of Tickler. [2] At some point thereafter Lieutenant John Watson replaced Allardyce. [1] Smith would later write that he had treated the officers with great leniency. [3]
On 7 September the French mounted an attack with 17 large boats filled with men. They retreated in confusion after coming under fire from the redoubts the British had erected on East Island and from the gunvessels, [4] among them the hoys Badger, Serpent and Hawk, and the Musquito-class floating battery Sandfly.
Conditions on the islands were harsh, and there was also a great deal of unrest in the Navy at the time. As a result, there were several instances of desertion. On 18 September two seamen from Shark stole her jolly boat and deserted to the French. [5]
During the night of 11 December 1795 Shark's crew mutinied, imprisoned Watson, and handed her over to the French at St Vaast La Hougue. [1] [6]
Thirteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Shark after the shark:
Îles Saint-Marcouf comprise two small uninhabited islands off the coast of Normandy, France. They lie in the Baie de la Seine region of the English Channel and are 6.5 km (4.0 mi) east of the coast of the Cotentin peninsula at Ravenoville and 13 km (8 mi) from the island of Tatihou and the harbour at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. In addition to the fortifications described below, on the larger island there is a lighthouse that dates to 1948.
HMS Lively was a 32-gun fifth-rate Alcmene-class frigate of the British Royal Navy launched on 23 October 1794 at Northam. She took part in three actions – one a single-ship action, one a major battle, and one a cutting-out boat expedition – that would in 1847 qualify her crews for the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal. Lively was wrecked in 1798.
Vénus was a corvette of the French Navy that the British captured in 1800. Renamed HMS Scout, she served briefly in the Channel before being wrecked in 1801, a few days after taking a major prize.
The Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf was an engagement fought off the Îles Saint-Marcouf near the Cotentin peninsula on the Normandy coast of France in May 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Dislodging a British garrison on the islands was the main objective for French forces. The garrison allowed the islands to serve as a resupply base for Royal Navy ships patrolling northern French waters. Apart from expelling the British, the French sought to test new equipment and tactics, which had allegedly been developed with an intention of invading Britain.
HMS Diomede was a 44-gun fifth rate built by James Martin Hillhouse and launched at Bristol on 18 October 1781. She belonged to the Roebuck class of vessels specially built during the American Revolutionary War for service in the shallow American coastal waters. As a two-decker, she had two complete batteries of guns, one on the upper deck and the other on the lower deck.
HMS Adamant was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate warship of the British Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned thirty years.
HMS Sandfly was a Musquito-class floating battery of the Royal Navy. The two-vessel class was intended to defend the Îles Saint-Marcouf (Marcou) situated off the Normandy coast. During her brief career Sandfly shared in the capture of one privateer and participated in a battle that would earn her crew the Naval General Service Medal. The Peace of Amiens returned the islets to France in May 1802; Sandfly was paid off in June 1802 and broken up in 1803.
The Musquito class was a Royal Navy class of two 4-gun floating batteries built to a design by Admiral Sir Sidney Smith specifically to serve with his squadron in French coastal waters. Both were named and ordered under Admiralty Order 26 May 1794.
HMS Serpent was a former Dutch hoy that the British Admiralty purchased in 1794 for service with the Royal Navy. She was paid off in 1796 and was sold around 1802.
HMS Badger was a Dutch hoy, one of some 19 that the Admiralty purchased for the Royal Navy in 1794 after France's declaration of war in 1793. The intent was to create quickly a class of gun-vessels for operations in coastal and shallow waters. Of all the hoys, she had probably the most distinguished career in that she helped fend off two French attacks on the Îles Saint-Marcouf, and participated in the capture of several French vessels. The Navy sold her in 1802.
HMS Hawke was a former Dutch hoy, one of 19, that the British Admiralty purchased in 1794 for service with the Royal Navy. She seems to have participated in only one engagement against the French and was sold in 1796.
Flèche was a French corvette built by Louis-Hilarion Chapelle (cadet) and launched at Toulon, France in 1768. The British captured her at the Fall of Bastia in May 1794 and commissioned her into the Royal Navy under her existing name. She observed the naval Battle of Hyères Islands, but then was wrecked in 1795.
Ceres was an East Indiaman launched in 1787. She made three trips to China for the British East India Company (EIC). After the outbreak of war with France in 1793, the Admiralty, desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy, purchased a number of commercial vessels, including nine East Indiamen, to meet the need for small two-decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts. The Admiralty purchased Ceres in 1795 and renamed her HMS Grampus. In 1797 the Admiralty converted her to a storeship. That year her crew participated in the Spithead and Nore mutinies. Grampus grounded in January 1799 and was destroyed.
Poulette was a French Coquette-class corvette built to a design by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb and launched in March 1781. She served the French navy until 1793 when the British captured her at Toulon in 1793. She served briefly in the Royal Navy, including at the battle of Genoa in 1795, until she was burned in October 1796 to prevent her falling into French hands.
His Majesty's hired armed vessel Aristocrat served the Royal Navy, twice, as a lugger from 1794 to 1798, and as a brig from 1799 to 1801. She served with the Jersey-based Channel Islands flotilla under Commodore Philippe d'Auvergne, Prince of Bouillon. As a lugger she participated in two notable engagements, the second of which won for her crew the Naval General Service Medal, awarded some 50 years later. As a brig, she captured two privateers.
HMS Nancy was the mercantile vessel Nancy that the Royal Navy purchased in 1794 for use as a fire ship. She was never expended as a fireship but instead served as a small gunboat. The Navy sold her at Deptford in 1801.
HMS Requin was the French Navy cutter Requin, launched at Boulogne in 1794. HMS Thalia captured Requin in 1795. Requin captured one small French privateer and participated in the capture of Suriname before wrecking in 1801.
HMS Wolf was a 4-gun gunvessel, originally a Dutch hoy that the British Admiralty purchased in 1794 for service with the Royal Navy. She was broken up in 1803.
HMS Tickler was launched in 1794 as a Conquest-class gunbrig. She was sold in 1802.
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