Hired armed cutter Griffin

Last updated

Two vessels named His Majesty's hired armed cutter Griffin served the British Royal Navy, the first during the French Revolutionary Wars and the second during the Napoleonic Wars. The descriptions of the two Griffins are similar enough to suggest they may have been the same vessel.

Contents

First contract

Griffin served from 13 September 1794 until 1 November 1801. She was of 70 ​85⁄94 tons (bm), and carried ten 3-pounder guns. [1]

On 28 January 1797 Griffin anchored in the Yarmouth roads with her prize, the French privateer lugger Liberté. After a three-and-a-half-hour-long chase, Griffin was able to capture Liberté at the entrance of the Ship-Wash, Yarmouth's sand banks. Liberté was carried three carriage and four swivel guns, and had a crew of 18 men. She had "infested" the coast for some time. [2] Griffin's master was B. Fisk. [3]

On 29 March 1799 Griffin and several other vessels were in company with Latona or in sight at the capture of the galiot Neptunus. [4] Griffin shared with the sloop Scorpion and the hired armed cutter Jane one month later, on 26 April, in the capture of the Adelaide, Bose, master. [5]

Mr. James Olifant was master on Griffin when she shared with other vessels in the capture of the Calypso, M.T. Schulten, master, (3 May) and the Resolution (14 May). [6] The other two British vessels were again Scorpion and Jane. [7]

On 16 October Griffin captured Fortuna, Blood, master. [8] He was also her commander when she captured the fishing vessels Stadt Egerfund, Welvaarin, and Stadt Embden. [9]

Second contract

Griffin served from 15 June 1803 until 12 December 1805. She was of 70​5⁄94 tons (bm), and carried six 3-pounder guns. [10]

On 20 September 1803 Griffin captured Pylade. [11]

On 3 January 1804, Archer captured the French lugger gunvessel №432. Archer and Griffin then captured a dogger, a schuyt, and two Blankenberg fishing vessels. All the vessels were part of a convoy sailing to Boulogne. The schyut was carrying gin, and the fishing vessels knees for boats. Each vessel also had three or four soldiers on board. Griffin had to undergo heavy fire from the shore as she helped capture the vessels. [12] Lieutenant Charles Stewart commanded Griffin. [13] The other French vessels were later identified as №17, №10, №11, №432, and a second №10. Immortalite led the British squadron and shared in the proceeds of the capture. [14]

Griffin, under the command of Lieutenant Robert Forbes, was part of a squadron consisting also of the gun-brigs Blazer, Conflict, Escort, and Tigress, and the cutter Admiral Mitchell, all under the command of Commander John Hancock in Cruizer.

At 4 P.M. on 23 October 1804, a French flotilla of two prams and eighteen armed schuyts left Ostend for the westward. Cruizer and her squadron gave chase. They succeeded in bringing the leading pram to action by 5:18, and in a little over an hour silencing her. [15] However, the tide was falling, darkness was coming on, and the vessels were in shoal water and in unfamiliar sands and currents. Cruizer hauled off and anchored but Conflict had already grounded, due to the fault of her pilot. [16] </ref> When they found that they could not free her, Lieutenant Ormsby and his crew abandoned her and rowed her boats to Cruiser. Hancock sent Ormsby back with Admiral Mitchell providing cover in an attempt to recover or destroy Conflict, but they discovered that she was already high and dry on a sandbank, and in French hands. [16]

At high tide Hancock sent in boats to try and bring her off, or destroy her, with Admiral Mitchell and Griffin, reinforced for the purpose, providing support. [15] However, by that time the French had hauled Conflict further onshore and brought up field pieces and howitzers. [16] The boat party, which was under Forbes' command, was forced to withdraw after having suffered three men wounded. Cruizer suffered four officers and men wounded, Conflict lost one man killed and five wounded, and Griffin had two men wounded in the attempt. In all, the British lost one man killed and 11 wounded. [15]

Lieutenant Robert Forbes still commanded Griffin on 9 April 1805 when she captured Vrow Hendricke, Meltings, master. [17] On 16 June Griffin captured Rowena, Robinson Potter, master. The condemnation was appealed, and the case was not settled in Griffin's favor until March 1809. [18] Rowena had imported sugar and coffee from Martinique, stopped at Newport to take on some American cargo, and then proceeded to Antwerp. The court ruled that at the time of capture Rowena and her cargo were enemy property. [19]

Citations and references

Citations

  1. ↑ Winfield (2008), p. 388.
  2. ↑ "No. 13975". The London Gazette . 28 January 1797. p. 94.
  3. ↑ "NMM, vessel ID 367915" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol i. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  4. ↑ "No. 15404". The London Gazette . 5 September 1801. p. 1097.
  5. ↑ "No. 15462". The London Gazette . 16 March 1802. p. 283.
  6. ↑ "No. 15669". The London Gazette . 13 July 1802. p. 1161.
  7. ↑ "No. 15957". The London Gazette . 13 September 1806. p. 1224.
  8. ↑ "No. 15397". The London Gazette . 11 August 1801. p. 995.
  9. ↑ "No. 15497". The London Gazette . 24 January 1804. p. 751.
  10. ↑ Winfield (2008), p. 391.
  11. ↑ "No. 15698". The London Gazette . 1 May 1804. p. 565.
  12. ↑ "No. 15663". The London Gazette . 3 January 1804. p. 19.
  13. ↑ "No. 15815". The London Gazette . 11 June 1805. p. 776.
  14. ↑ "No. 15812". The London Gazette . 1 June 1805. p. 738.
  15. 1 2 3 "No. 15748". The London Gazette . 23 October 1794. pp. 1320–1322.
  16. 1 2 3 Hepper (1994), p. 107.
  17. ↑ "No. 16235". The London Gazette . 7 March 1809. p. 315.
  18. ↑ "No. 16238". The London Gazette . 18 March 1809. p. 360.
  19. ↑ State Papers and Publick Documents of the United States from the Accession of George Washington to the Presidency: 1803-1807. (1817), pp.250-2. (T.B. Wait and Sons).

References

This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.

Related Research Articles

HMS Leda, launched in 1800, was the lead ship of a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. Leda's design was based on the French Hébé, which the British had captured in 1782. Leda was wrecked at the mouth of Milford Haven in 1808, Captain Honeyman was exonerated of all blame, as it was a pilot error.

HMS <i>Manly</i> (1804)

HMS Manly was an Archer-class gun-brig launched in 1804. During her career first the Dutch captured her, then the British recaptured her, then the Danes captured her, and finally the British recaptured her again. The British renamed her HMS Bold after her recapture in 1813. She was sold out of service in 1814.

HMS Bold was a 14-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy built at Blackwall Yard. She took part in several minor actions and captured some prizes before she grounded in 1811 and was broken up shortly thereafter.

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 Queen Charlotte served the Royal Navy on two contracts, the first from 10 June 1803 to 13 February 1805, and the second from 17 September 1807 to 17 May 1814. She was of 75​14⁄94 tons (bm) and carried eight 4-pounder guns. There was also a cutter Queen Charlotte that was present at the taking of Saint Lucia in May 1796 by British forces under Sir Hugh Christian and Sir Ralph Abercrombie.

His Majesty's hired armed cutter Courier appears twice in the records of the British Royal Navy. The size and armament suggests that both contracts could represent the same vessel, but other information indicates that the second Courier had been captured from the French in the West Indies. On the first contract the captain and crew were awarded clasps to the Naval General Service Medal, one for a boat action and one for a single ship action in which they distinguished themselves.

HMS <i>Cruizer</i> (1797)

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.

There were two, and possibly three, vessels named His Majesty's hired armed brig Ann that served the British Royal Navy. The first participated in an engagement in 1807 that would earn her crew the Naval General Service Medal. She is sometimes referred to in sources as the hired armed cutter Ann or the hired armed brig Anne. Little or nothing is known of the second and third hired armed brigs Ann or Anne.

HMS Firm was a 12-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 July 1804. She served in the Channel, where she engaged in one action that would eventually result in her crew qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal. She grounded in 1811 and her crew had to destroy her before abandoning her.

HMS Moucheron was a French privateer, built in 1799, that the British captured in 1801 and that the British government purchased in 1802 for the Royal Navy. She foundered in 1807 in the Mediterranean without leaving a trace.

HMS Harrier was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1804. She took part in several notable actions before she was lost in March 1809, presumed foundered.

His Majesty's hired armed cutter Admiral Mitchell served under two contracts for the British Royal Navy, one at the end of the French Revolutionary Wars and the second at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. She participated in several notable small engagements and actions. In 1806 the Admiralty purchased her and took her into service as the Sir Andrew Mitchell in 1807.

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 <i>Harpy</i> (1796)

HMS Harpy was a Royal Navy Diligence-class brig-sloop, launched in 1796 and sold in 1817. She was the longest lived vessel of her class, and the most widely travelled. She served in both the battle of Copenhagen and the British invasion of Java, took part in several actions, one of which won for her crew a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal, and captured numerous privateers. The Navy sold her in 1817.

Two vessels have borne the designation, His Majesty's hired armed cutter Constitution. The first served the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. The second served briefly at the start of the Napoleonic Wars and was sunk in 1804. The two cutters are similar enough that may have been the same vessel; at this juncture it is impossible to know.

During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, the British Royal Navy twice employed a vessel named His Majesty's hired armed cutter Albion, though these are probably the same vessel:

HMS Earnest was launched at Leith in 1805 as one of 48 later Archer-class gun brigs for the British Royal Navy. During her naval career Earnest captured five small privateers and numerous merchant vessels. In 1816 the Admiralty sold her and she became the merchantman Earnest. She continued to sail and was last listed in 1850.

HMS Orestes was a mercantile vessel, possible Ann, that the Royal Navy purchased in 1803. She had a short operational career; her crew burnt her in 1805 after she ran aground to prevent the enemy from capturing her.

HMS Starling was launched in 1805. She participated in one action and captured a privateer and a number of merchant vessels before she was sold in 1814.

HMS <i>Monkey</i> (1801)

HMS Monkey was launched in 1801 at Rochester. She served in the Channel, North Sea, and the Baltic, and was wrecked in December 1810.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.