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.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the British Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels. These were generally smaller vessels, often cutters and luggers, that the Navy used for duties ranging from carrying despatches and passengers to convoy escort, particularly in British coastal waters, and reconnaissance.
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.
Flora was of 15786⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns. [1]
Builder's Old Measurement is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam. It is expressed in "tons burden", and abbreviated "tons bm".
Flora, Lieutenant James Reddy, and the hired armed cutter Stag captured the French privateer lugger Epervier. [2] [Note 1] Flora had been reconnoitering Dunkirk when she captured Epervier, which was armed with two 2-pounder guns and six swivel guns. She had sailed from Havre de Grace on 5 May but had captured nothing. Flora arrived in The Downs on 15 May 1796. [4] Lloyd's List reported on 17 May 1796 that the cutter Flora had captured a French privateer of eight guns and 24 men. The lugger was from Havre and Flora sent her into Dover. [5]
A lugger is a class of boat, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, England and Scotland. It is a small sailing vessel with lug sails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.
The Downs are a roadstead in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge in neutral English waters. From the Elizabethan era onwards, the presence of the Downs helped to make Deal one of the premier ports in England, and in the 19th century, it was equipped with its own telegraph and timeball tower to enable ships to set their marine chronometers.
Lloyd's List is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013, and is in constantly updated digital format only since then.
Flora shared with Venerable, Repulse, Tamar, Clyde, and the cutter Princess Royal in the proceeds of the capture on 6 September of Hare. [6]
HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 April 1784 at Blackwall Yard.
HMS Repulse was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 November 1780 at East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.
HMS Clyde was a Royal Navy Artois-class frigate built at Chatham Dockyard of fir, and launched in 1796. In 1797, she was one of only two ships whose captains were able to maintain some control over their vessels during the Nore mutiny. In 1805, HMS Clyde was dismantled and rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard; she was relaunched on 23 February 1806. She was ultimately sold in August 1814.
Flora captured Vriendshaft on the 19 February I797. [7]
On 11 February 1798, Flora, under the command of Lieutenant William Yawkins, captured the Spanish schooner Nuestra Senora del Carmen (alias Nimsa). The schooner had been sold at Lisbon. [8]
At some point Flora recaptured the Swedish brig Dorothea Frederica. [9]
Flora sailed to the Mediterranean where she spent time carrying despatches for Admiral Lord Nelson. On 11 September he sent her to Egypt and she returned on 25 October. [10] On 22 November, Flora was part of a squadron under Nelson that left Naples and sailed to Leghorn, arriving on the 28th. The British took possession of the town, as well as two armed polaccas and a merchant vessel. [11] Consequently, she shared with Vanguard, Culloden, Minotaur, and Terpsichorein the proceeds of the capture on 25 November of the Genoese corvettes Tigre and Eguaglianza off Leghorn. [12] The same vessels shared in the proceeds of the capture three days later of the Genoese polacca Nostra Signora del Carmine. [13]
Flora was under the command of Master William Yawkins on 1 December 1798 and en route to the Cape of Good Hope with mail and despatches when a French privateer captured her. [14] On 15 December Nelson, writing from Naples, mentioned that Flora had been lost. [15]
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Jean Bart may refer to one of the following ships of the French Navy or privateers named in honour of Jean Bart, a French naval commander and privateer.
HMS Martin was a 16-gun sloop of the Royal Navy. She served at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and captured two privateers before she disappeared in 1800.
His Majesty's Hired armed lugger Duke of York served the Royal Navy from 14 October 1794 to 2 January 1799 when she foundered in the North Sea. She was of 57 44/94 tons burthen (bm) and was armed with eight 4-pounder guns.
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 Cruizer was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Stephen Teague of Ipswich and launched in 1797. She was the first ship of the class, but there was a gap of 5 years between her launch and the ordering of the next batch in October 1803; by 1815 a total of 105 other vessels had been ordered to her design. She had an eventful wartime career, mostly in the North Sea, English Channel and the Baltic, and captured some 15 privateers and warships, and many merchant vessels. She also participated in several actions. She was laid up in 1813 and the Commissioners of the Navy sold her for breaking in 1819.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, British vessels captured at least 12 French warships and privateers named Espoir, which means “Hope” in French. In only one case was there mention of an exchange of fire or casualties. In general, the privateers tried to escape, and failing that surrendered.
His Majesty's hired armed cutter Telemachus served the Royal Navy from 17 June 1795 until 15 January 1801. She was of 1285⁄95 tons (bm), and carried fourteen 4-pounder guns. During her five and a half years of service to the Royal Navy she captured eight French privateers as well as many merchant vessels.
Comte de Maurepas was a common name for French vessels in the 18th century. The name comes from that of the French statesman Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas.
HMS Duc de la Vaguinon was the French privateer cutter Duc de la Vauguyon, launched in 1779, that the British captured later that same year. The British took her into the Royal Navy, but she was almost immediately; her total career lasted only about nine months.
Vanneau was a lugger aviso or cutter of the French Royal Navy, launched in 1782. The British captured her in 1793 and brought her into the Royal Navy. She served briefly in the Mediterranean before being wrecked in 1796.
Mutin was a 14-gun cutter of the French Navy, the lead ship of the Mutin Class of five naval cutters. She was launched in 1778 and the Royal Navy captured her the next year, taking her into service as HMS Mutine. The Royal Navy renamed her HMS Pigmy in 1798. She was lost in 1805.
Two vessels have borne the designation, His Majesty's hired armed cutter Lion. The first served during the French Revolutionary Wars, capturing five privateers and several merchant vessels. The second served briefly at the start of the Napoleonic Wars. Both vessels operated in the Channel. The two cutters may have been the same vessel; at this juncture it is impossible to know. French records report that the French captured the second Lion in 1808 and that she served in the French Navy until 1809.
HMS Hound was a brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She had a short history. After her launch in 1796 she captured two privateers and destroyed a third before she was lost in 1800.
HMS Seagull, was a Royal Navy Diligence-class brig-sloop, launched in 1795. During the French Revolutionary Wars she shared in the capture of a number of small French and Dutch privateers. Then early in the Napoleonic Wars she participated in a notable single-ship action before she disappeared without a trace in 1805.
His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Sandwich served the Royal Navy from 23 May 1798 until the French frigate Créole captured her on 14 June 1799. She then served in the French Navy until the Royal Navy recaptured her on 15 October 1803. The Navy purchased her in 1804 and she served for some months in 1805 as HMS Sandwich before she was sold in Jamaica. During this period she captured three small French privateers in two days.
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.
His Majesty's hired armed vessel Marechal de Cobourg served the British Royal Navy under contract during the French Revolutionary Wars. Contemporary records also referred to her as Marshall de Cobourg, Marshall Cobourg, Marshall Cobourg, Marquis Cobourg, Marquis de Cobourg, Cobourg, Coborg, and Saxe Cobourg. Further adding to the difficulty in tracking her through the records, is that although she was originally a cutter, later the Navy converted her to a brig.
Numerous vessels have been named Vautour :
Numerous French privateers have borne the name Vengeur ("Avenger"):
Several cutters have served His Britannic Majesty's revenue service as HM Revenue Cutter Swallow in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In wartime each cutter operated under a letter of marque, which authorized the master to engage in offensive actions against the enemy, not just defensive. These letters provide some information. Unfortunately, because the Government did not insure its vessels, sources such as Lloyd's Register, and later, the Register of Shipping, did not list the vessels while they were on government service. Also, Revenue cutters worked with the Royal Navy. A Customs House minute of 7 July 1806 notes that the Revenue cutters Swan and Hound might replace the Revenue cutters Stag and Swallow, which were then serving with Admiral Keith. Individual cutters might even for a time serve the Navy as a hired armed vessel.