French privateer: 2 × 8-pounder + 14 × 6-pounder guns
British Royal Navy: 12 × 4-pounder guns
HMS Spider was formerly the French privateer Victoire, built at Dunkirk in 1782, that the Royal Navy captured that same year. The Navy commissioned her as Spider. She served during both the French Revolutionary and early Napoleonic Wars, capturing some five French privateers before being sold at Malta in 1806 for breaking up.
Stag captured Victoire off the Irish coast on 18 June 1782 after a chase of 11 hours. At the time, she was armed with two 8-pounder and fourteen 6-pounder guns (six of which she threw over-board during the chase), and had a crew of 91 men.[3]
Between the wars
Victoire was already copper sheathed, but still the Royal Navy had her fitted at Plymouth for service in the Channel. Between October 1782 and 26 January 1784 she received metal braces while also on active duty. In British service she was much more lightly armed and crewed than she had been as a privateer.
Spider was commissioned in May 1783 for the Holyhead station under the command of Lieutenant Nichiolas Rooke. Rooke. She was paid off in June 1786, but immediately recommissioned under the command of Lieutenant Edward Edmonston. She was paid off in 1787, and apparently not recommissioned until October 1788, when Lieutenant Samuel Edwards assumed command. In 1790 Lieutenant William Layton replaced Edwards.[4]
French Revolutionary Wars
Spider brought into Plymouth around 15 March 1793 the French privateer Sans-Culottes, as well as her prize, Susan, Cheater, master. Susan, of Pool, had been sailing from Alicante when captured. Spider captured Sans Culotte and recaptured Susan some seven leagues west of Guernsey on 5 March.[5]Sans-Culotte was a 15-ton and 20-man privateer from Saint-Malo, commissioned in 1793 under Captain Eudes.[6] At capture, Sans Culottes was armed with 12 swivel guns and had a crew of 22 men.[5]
At some point in 1795, Spider captured the privateer Desiree.[7]
In 1796 Lieutenant William Bevians replaced Layton. Then between January and April 1797 Spider underwent fitting as a schooner. Lieutenant Digby Dent assumed command.[2]
On 16 May 1797 Spider repulsed an attack by a French privateer lugger.[8]Spider then captured the French privateer Flibustier, of Saint-Malo.[Note 1]Spider was seven leagues south of The Lizard when she sighted and gave chase to a brig. After a chase of three hours, punctuated by fire from the quarry's stern chasers, Spider caught up with the brig just under the Lizard.[10] By one account Flibustier was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 67 men.[8] Lieutenant Digby Dent, in his after-action letter, described her as having 14 guns (four of which she threw overboard during the chase), and a crew of 70 men under the command of Henry Capel. She was 11 days out of Saint-Malo but had not made any captures.[10]Spider brought her into Plymouth.[8]
Lieutenant Richard Harrison assumed command of Spider in February 1798.[Note 2] On 25 July 1799 Two Brothers, Drew, master, arrived at Plymouth. She had been smuggling 500 ankers of spirits when Spider captured her.[11]
In September he was at the Isle of Man where he impressed 50 herring fisherman, devastating the local trade and arousing a great local furor. The press gang was a long-standing grievance on the Isle.[12]
On 10 March 1799, Harrison brought into Falmouth some useful intelligence. That day he had detained a Prussian vessel. She had as a passenger an American who had been the master of a vessel that a French privateer had captured. The American reported that on 27 February 12 French frigates, transports, and supply ships, together with a number of troops, had sailed from Bordeaux for Brest. The next day, 18 more had sailed. Although the Lords of the Admiralty thought it unlikely that the flotilla was headed for Ireland, they thought it prudent to reinforce Admiral Kingsmill's squadron there with three vessels, Russell, Phoebe, and Proselyte.[13]
On 12 June 1800 Spider brought into Plymouth the lugger Expedition. She was a Cornish vessel, from Polperro, and was returning to Britain with 900 ankers of brandy, as well as tobacco and other smuggled goods.[14]
Although it is not clear when Spider sailed to the Mediterranean, Spider is listed as having served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801). Consequently, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.[1]
Spiderarrive at Plymouth Sound on 2 September 1801 after a voyage of ten weeks from Alexandria. She had as a passenger Captain Young, of the Royal Navy, who was carrying dispatches. Young landed and took a four-horse post chaise for London to deliver dispatches that he was carrying.[15]
In August 1802 Lieutenant George Ravenscroft took temporary command of Spider. Next month, Lieutenant Harding Shaw replaced Ravenscroft. He sailed her for the Mediterranean on 22 November.[2]
Napoleonic Wars
In the Mediterranean, Admiral Lord Nelson, commander in chief in the Mediterranean, used Spider to carry messages to and from Malta. including to Corfu and Constantinople.
Around mid-1803 Spider captured a vessel that she then had to give up, presumably on the grounds that it was allied or neutral.[16] This may or may not have been related to Shaw's having, with two English merchantmen, recaptured three English vessels in the harbour at Girgenti or Grigenti (probably Agrigento), brought there by two French privateers.[17] Nelson deferred a judgement on the correctness of Shaw's action to Sir Alexander Ball, the chief commissioner at Malta.[18] (Later (i.e., by June 1804), Nelson fully endorsed Shaw's action, complaining that the Sicilian Government and that of the Republic of the Seven Islands were too free in letting French privateers use their ports.[19])
Then in a letter dated 5 November 1803, Nelson ordered Spider refitted because she was in a "miserable state".[20] Refitting was complete by 22 December.[21]
On 9 July 1804, Shaw and Spider captured the Ragusan brig Madonna del Rosario. She had been carrying a cargo of oil from Canea, Island of Candia (Crete), to Marseilles.[23]
On 5 September Shaw had a seaman flogged, apparently disturbing some of the crew. (Given the ubiquity of flogging in the Royal Navy, that the crew was disturbed suggests that some unfairness may have been involved.) Someone then threw a round-shot that landed near Shaw and the master, Mr. Langdon. When no-one would confess to having thrown the shot, Shaw had all the seamen given 12 lashes. On 6 September he wrote to reporting the situation. On 4 October, Nelson wrote back, admonishing Shaw. Nelson wrote, "I cannot approve of a measure so foreign to the rules of good discipline and the accustomed rules of his Majesty's Navy, and therefore caution you against a similar line of conduct."[24]
On 11 September, Lieutenant Harding Shaw and Spider were about three leagues from Alicante when they captured the French privateer Conception, of two brass guns and 47 men. Conception had been fitted out Ajacia, in Corsica, which she had left about a month earlier. The day before her capture she had left Grigenti. In the month she had been out she had made no captures. Shaw put 33 prisoners ashore at Alicante.[25][Note 3]
On 4 October Nelson wrote Shaw a second letter. Nelson had received a letter from Mr. Langdon alleging that Shaw had issued him certificates for pilot services (payment instructions), and demanded back half the pilotage charge. Nelson asked for an accounting of all such certificates in order to decide whether to open a public inquiry into Shaw's conduct. He also instructed Shaw not to pay for any more pilotage services except in extraordinary circumstances as in Nelson's opinion, Shaw was familiar with all the ports he might visit.[27]
Spider captured the French privateer Andromeda, of four guns and 43 men on 10 December 1805,[28] cutting her out of the port of Reggio.[29] She shared the prize money for the capture with Hirondelle.[30][Note 4]
Fate
Spider was paid off at Malta in February 1806,[2] and sold there later in the year.
Notes
↑ Flibustier had been commissioned in either 1796 or '97 under J.-M. Capel. She was of 50 tons and had a complement of 40-70 men.[9]
↑ Although one source gives Harrison's given name as James,[2] other sources show his given name as Richard.[4]
↑ Conception was a privateer gondola sic commissioned at Ajaccio in 1801. In addition to her two guns she originally carried eight swivel guns. Apparently the British had captured her on 24 April 1804, but her crew had retaken her.[26]
↑ Andromeda was commissioned in 1805, and was probably of Italian origin.[31]
HMS Phoebe was a 36-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She had a career of almost twenty years and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Overall, her crews were awarded six clasps to the Naval General Service Medals, with two taking place in the French Revolutionary Wars, three during the Napoleonic Wars and the sixth in the War of 1812. Three of the clasps carried the name Phoebe. During her career, Phoebe sailed to the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, North and South America.
Révolutionnaire, was a 40-gun Seine-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in May 1794. The British captured her in October 1794 and she went on to serve with the Royal Navy until she was broken up in 1822. During this service Revolutionnaire took part in numerous actions, including three for which the Admiralty would in 1847 award clasps to the Naval General Service Medal, and captured several privateers and merchant vessels.
Mutine was an 18-gun Belliqueuse-class gun-brig of the French Navy, built to a design by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, and launched in 1794 at Honfleur. She took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where the British captured her. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Mutine, and eventually sold in 1803.
Sémillante was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy and the lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and turned her into a merchant vessel. The British captured her and broke her up in 1809.
HMS Scorpion was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John King at Dover and launched in 1803. She was the first of the class to be built since the launching of Cruizer in 1797. Scorpion had a long and active career during the Napoleonic Wars, earning her crews three clasps to the Naval General Service Medal when the Admiralty authorized it in 1847, two for single-ship actions. She also took a number of prizes. Scorpion was sold in 1819.
The Royal Navy used several vessels that were described as His Majesty's hired armed cutter King George. Some of these may have been the same vessel on repeat contract.
His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Lurcher was a 12-gun cutter that served the Royal Navy from 15 August 1795 until 15 January 1801 when a French privateer captured her in the Channel.
HMS Entreprenante was a 10-gun cutter that the Royal Navy captured from the French in 1798. The British commissioned her in 1799 and she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, participating in the Battle of Trafalgar. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She took part in several small engagements, capturing Spanish and French ships before she was sold in 1812 for breaking up.
HMS Moucheron was a French privateer, built in 1799, that the British captured in 1801. The British government purchased her in 1802 for the Royal Navy. She foundered in 1807 in the Mediterranean without leaving a trace.
HMS Cameleon was a Royal Navy Diligence-class brig-sloop, launched in 1795. She was built of fir, which allowed for rapid construction, but at the expense of durability. She captured some small vessels and a privateer, and served in the Mediterranean before being laid up in 1805, and broken up in 1811.
HMS Hawk was an 18-gun sloop-of-war, previously the French privateer Atalante, that HMS Plantagenet captured in 1803. The Royal Navy took Atalante into service as HMS Hawk; she foundered in 1804.
The French brig Suffisante was launched in 1793 for the French Navy. In 1795 the Royal Navy captured her and took her into service under her existing name. HMS Suffisante captured seven privateers during her career, as well as recapturing some British merchantmen and capturing a number of prizes, some of them valuable. She was lost in December 1803 when she grounded in poor weather in Cork harbour.
His Majesty's hired armed schooner Lady Charlotte served the British Royal Navy on contract between 28 October 1799 and 28 October 1801. She had a burthen of 120 85⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronades. As a hired armed vessel she captured several privateers and recaptured a number of British merchant vessels. After her service with the Royal Navy, she apparently sailed as a letter of marque until the French captured her in 1806.
HMS Hirondelle was the French privateer Hirondelle that HMS Bittern captured in 1804. The Royal Navy took Hirondelle into service under her existing name. She captured a number of vessels in the Mediterranean and participated in one notable action against a Turkish vessel. She was wrecked in 1808 with the loss of almost her entire crew.
HMS Imogen was the French privateer Diable á Quatre, built at Bordeaux in 1792, that Thames and Immortalite captured in 1800. The Royal Navy took her into service in 1801 as HMS Imogen. She foundered in 1805.
HMS Rosario was a 20-gun sixth rate of the British Royal Navy. She was previously the French privateer Hardi, which HMS Anson captured in 1800. The navy took her into service as HMS Hardi but renamed her HMS Rosario later in 1800. She was sold in 1809.
His Majesty's hired armed cutter John Bull served the British Royal Navy under contract between 5 May 1804 and 26 November 1806. She then became a privateer. She detained numerous vessels before she herself fell prey to a French privateer in 1809. She then became a French privateer. Her ultimate fate is currently unknown.
HMS Pilote was a cutter launched for the French Navy at Dunkirk in 1778. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1779 and took her into service under her existing name. It sold her in 1799.
HM hired armed cutter Flora served the British Royal Navy under contract from 16 August 1794 until a French privateer captured her on 1 December 1798.
HMS Attack was launched in 1804 as a later Archer-class gunbrig. Danish gunboats captured Attack in August 1812.
References
Castlereach, Robert Stewart (Viscount) (1848) Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry. (H. Colburn).
Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 A 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN2-906381-24-1.
Nicholas, Sir Nicholas Harris (1845) The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson: With Notes, Volume 5. (H. Colburn).
Nicholas, Sir Nicholas Harris (1846) The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson: With Notes, Volume 6. (H. Colburn).
Norie, J. W. (1827) The naval gazetteer, biographer and chronologist; containing a history of the late wars from ... 1793 to ... 1801; and from ... 1803 to 1815, and continued, as to the biographical part to the present time. (London, C. Wilson).
O’Byrne, William R. (1849) A naval biographical dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. (London: J. Murray), vol. 1.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1844157006.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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