| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Builder | Dover |
| Launched | 1790 |
| Fate | Last listed in 1808 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 52, [1] or 54 [2] (bm) |
| Sail plan | Cutter, later Sloop [1] |
| Armament | 6 × 4-pounder guns [2] |
Duchess of York was a vessel probably launched in 1790. She served the Royal Navy as a hired armed cutter between 1795 and 1800. From 1801 she was a merchantman, sailing primarily between Dover and Exmouth. She is last listed in 1808.
Duchess of York's early career is obscure. She does not appear in Lloyd's Register until after her service with the Royal Navy.
Hired armed cutter: The Admiralty employed Duchess of York as a hired armed cutter. Records suggest that her contract ran from 9 March 1795 to 2 January 1799. [2] However, there is little record of her activities prior to 1799, and there are several accounts of her activities as a cutter in 1800.
The brig Pelican, loaded with barley, arrived at Portsmouth on 5 February 1799, after Duchess of York had recaptured her. [3]
During the evening of 29 January 1800, off Le Havre, HMS Camilla captured the French privateer lugger Vigoureaux (or Vigoreaux). Vigoureaux was armed with three guns, had a crew of 26 men and was 19 days out of Cherbourg, not having taken anything. [4] Duchess of York was in sight. [5] Vigoureux had been commissioned in 1799. [6] </ref>
Lloyd's List reported on 21 February that Honfleur and Dorade, two prizes to the cutters Duchess of York and Fly, had arrived at Portsmouth. [7]
Duchess of York, under the command of Lieutenant Lundy, arrived at Portsmouth on 4 April from a cruise off Havre. She brought in with her the brig Alexander, which had come from Lisbon and had been bound for Altona, Hamburg. Duchess of York had intercepted Alexander going into Havre with a cargo of fruit, etc. [8]
This capture gave rise to a court case in 1800 in which Alexander's owners challenged her seizure. The facts of the case, per the owner, a Danish merchant, were that he had purchased Alexander, of Altona, on 15 March 1799 at Saint-Malo. She sailed to Altona in ballast. There she took on a cargo to Lisbon, and was under orders to return to Altona. At Lisbon she took in a cargo of cotton, coffee, sugar, &c. When ready to sail from Lisbon she had a fortnight's old sound provisions on board, but her master chose to purchase a barrel of beef and a hundred weight of biscuit. She departed from Lisbon on 9 March, and on the 15th, being off the coast of France, the crew discovered that the purchased beef was offensive and bad. The captain, although he had twenty days good old provisions, decided to sail for the first port in France for more. That port was Havre de Grace. [9]
In the case it was proved the master knew that Havre de Grace was under a British blockade. About four leagues from Havre, Duchess of York came up under French colours, and after examination, seized Alexander for having broken the neutrality. At the time there was another cutter in sight. [9]
The attorney for Alexander argued that she was in want of provisions, and that a further elucidation was unnecessary. The Judge entered into the cause at full length. The ship and part of the cargo were condemned as prize to the two cutters. [9]
Merchantman:Duchess of York appears in Lloyd's Register for 1801 with J. Lucas, master, changing to J. Luckhurst, Rogers & Co. owner, and trade Exmouth–Dover. The entry gave her a launch year of 1790, and launch place of Dover. [1] (The Register of Shipping for 1802 gave a launch year for Dutchess of York of 1789, but otherwise agreed with Lloyd's Register.) This information continued unchanged to her last listing in 1808.
HMS Camilla was a Royal Navy 20-gun Sphinx-class post ship. Camilla was built in Chatham Dockyard to a design by John Williams and was launched in 1776. She served in the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars, before being sold in 1831.
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.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Égyptienne, or Egypt, which commemorated Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, was a popular name for French vessels, including naval vessels and privateers. Between 1799 and 1804, warships of the Royal Navy captured one French frigate and five different French privateers all with the name Égyptienne, and at least one privateer with the name Égypte.
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.
Robert was a 16-gun French privateer corvette launched in 1793 at Nantes. The British captured her in 1793 and named her HMS Espion. The French recaptured her in 1794 and took her into service as Espion. The British recaptured her in 1795, but there being another Espion in service by then, the British renamed their capture HMS Spy. She served under that name until the Navy sold her in 1801. Spy then became a slave ship, a merchantman to South America, and privateer again. The French captured her in mid-1805 and sent her into Guadeloupe.
Confiance, launched in 1797, was a privateer corvette from Bordeaux, famous for being Robert Surcouf's ship during the capture of the British East India Company's East Indiaman Kent. The British Royal Navy captured Confiance in 1805, took her into service under her existing name, and sold her in 1810. Before she was sold, Confiance took part in two notable actions.
HMS Swallow was an 18-gun Albatross-class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1795 and sold in 1802. During her naval career she captured a number of French privateers while on the Jamaica station. After her sale she became an armed whaler sailing under a letter of marque. As a privateer she captured two French whaling vessels but then is no longer listed after 1810.
Diamond was launched in 1798 at Quebec. French privateers captured her three times, the third time retaining her. In between she carried slaves. Her third capture occurred while she was on a whaling voyage. Her last voyage took her from Île de France to Bordeaux where she was decommissioned in January 1809.
Several British vessels were named Earl Spencer for one or another of the members of the Spencer family:
Earl Spencer was the French privateer brig Aventurier, which the British Royal Navy captured in December 1799. The French prize became a British privateer in 1800. After the Peace of Amiens she became a merchant vessel that traded between London and Gibraltar. She apparently was condemned in 1802, perhaps after having received damage there.
Three hired armed cutters named Earl Spencer served the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary or Napoleonic Wars. Two, both cutters, served at the same time between 1799 and 1801. A third, variously referred to as a tender or cutter, served from 1803 to 1814.
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 Eugenie was the French privateer Nouvelle Eugénie, launched at Nantes in 1796 that the British Royal Navy captured in 1797 and took into service. As a brig-sloop she served in the Channel, primarily escorting convoys, and was sold in 1803.
HMS Starling was launched in 1801. She grounded in December 1804 and burnt to avoid her falling into enemy hands.
HMS Bonetta was the French privateer Huit Amis, launched at Bordeaux in 1798 that the British Royal Navy captured in May. In her brief naval career she captured a number of small prizes, one of them a 2-gun privateer. Bonetta was wrecked in 1801.
Huron, of Bordeaux, was commissioned in 1793 as a privateer. She made several cruises before the British Royal Navy captured her in 1801 as she was returning to France with cargo from Mauritius. She was sold and then proceeded to sail between England and America as a merchantman. She was last listed in 1808.
Lord Hawke was launched at Ostend in 1793, almost certainly under a different name. In 1798 she became a British privateer. The French captured her in 1799 and she became the French privateer Revanche. The British Royal Navy recaptured her in 1800. New owners returned her to her original British name. She disappeared in early 1801, presumed to have foundered with all hands.
Fowey was launched in 1798. She spent a little more than a year-and-a-half as a hired armed cutter for the British Royal Navy. She was sold in 1800 and became a privateer. Her fate after 1804 is currently obscure.
HMS Tickler was a cutter built at Dover in 1798 as the mercantile Lord Duncan. Between October 1798 and October 1801 she served the Royal Navy as the hired armed cutter Lord Duncan. Lord Duncan captured or recaptured several vessels, including one privateer. The Navy purchased Lord Duncan in October 1808 and renamed her HMS Tickler. It sold her in 1816.