Hired armed cutter Hero

Last updated

Two vessels served the British Royal Navy as His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Hero. Under the command of Lieutenant John Reynolds, the second hired armed cutter Hero captured some 30 merchantmen during the Gunboat War before the Royal Navy returned her to her owners. [1] She was so successful that the Norwegian merchants offered a considerable reward for Hero's capture. [1]

Contents

There was also an hired armed lugger Hero, and a number of British letters of marque that carried the name Hero, and that were cutters. None of the letter of marque cutters match the description of either hired armed cutter Hero.

The first hired armed cutter Hero

The first hired armed cutter Hero carried nine 12-pounder carronades and was of 7790⁄94 tons (bm). She served the Royal Navy from 20 August 1804 to 3 February 1805. [2]

The second hired armed cutter Hero

The second hired armed cutter Hero carried ten 12-pounder carronades and was of 11927⁄94 tons (bm). She served the Royal Navy from 4 May 1809 to 11 November 1811. [3]

Whilst under the command of Lieutenant John Reynolds, Hero commenced cruising in The Sleeve (Kattegat) in 1809. [1] On 14 November, three Danish sloops arrived at Leith, prizes to Talbot, the hired armed ship Charles, and Hero. [4]

Some of her first captures included:

In 1810 Reynolds discovered that Sälö Fjord, then little known to the British, was a good place of refuge during gales on the Swedish coast. He surveyed it and reported that it was busy. [1]

In April Hero captured:

On 21 October Hero captured Carl Frederick. [8] One month later, on 21 November 1810 Hero captured the Catharina Christiana. [9]

In early 1811 Hero met with more success in her prize-taking as she captured:

However, on 25 April 1811 Hero, while in the company of the Hired armed cutter Swan, encountered three Danish gunboats in The Sleeve. [12] [Note 2] Swan was forced to surrender but sank off Uddevalla, on the Swedish coast north of Gothenburg, almost immediately after the Danes boarded her. [12] The battle apparently also resulted in damage to Hero. [13] [Note 3] A frigate helped her into Vingo where she was repaired enough to sail to England for more complete repairs. [14] She arrived at Dover on 7 May.

Still, on 14 July she captured Margaretta, Ebenetzer, and Sophie. [15] On 13 October she captured Fortuna. [16] On 22 July Hero was in company when the gun-brig Urgent captured Trajen and Freden. [Note 4] Lastly, on 19 October she captured the Danish galliot Haabet. [18] She returned to Dover on 17 November from the Baltic having again been much damaged in an engagement with Danish gun boats.

Reynolds removed to the Nimble-class cutter Nimble early in 1812. [1] Nimble was wrecked in the Kattegat in October, near the Sälö Beacon, but with no loss of life. [19]

Post script

Reportedly, Hero spent from end 1812 to 1814 re-fitting at Sheerness. [20] If so, she was not on the rolls of the Royal Navy.

Hired armed lugger Hero

The hired armed lugger Hero served the Royal Navy in 1809 and is described as being of 4013⁄94 tons burthen. [3]

British privateer cutter Hero

On 18 July 1812, the Baltimore schooner Falcon, of 172 tons, four guns and sixteen men, under the command of Captain John Wilson, was sailing from Boston to Bordeaux. [Note 5] Off the coast of France she encountered the "British cutter Hero", of five guns and 50 men. Hero sailed off after failing in three attempts during the two-hour running fight to board Falcon. This Hero may have been the cutter under the command of John Feaste, of 72 tons burthen, that sailed under a letter of marque dated 28 April 1812. (The letter further describes Hero as being armed with eight 3 and 6-pounder guns, and having a crew of 30 men. [22]

The next day the British privateer Dart, of six guns and 40 men, succeeded in capturing Falcon after a fight of over an hour in which Wilson and several of his men were wounded. Dart then took Falcon into Guernsey. [23] This may have been the cutter Dart, under the command of Thomas Guilbert, of 114 tons burthen, armed with six 4-pounder guns and with a letter of marque dated 20 May 1812. [22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Part of the money that accrued to Hero from this capture was from an abatement of duties on a cargo of deals (planks) from Fortuna.
  2. ↑ Anderson gives the day as 23 April, Winfield gives it as 24 April, and Gossett gives it as 25 April.
  3. ↑ Gossett has Hero being sunk, but does not report any court martial date.
  4. ↑ These two vessels yielded Reynolds a total of £16 3s 10d in prize money; an ordinary seaman received 15s 6d. [17]
  5. ↑ Cranwell and Crane state that Falcon had no commission as a letter of marque as she had left Baltimore for France months in advance of the outbreak of war. [21]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 31, p.207
  2. ↑ Winfield (2008), p.394.
  3. 1 2 Winfield (2008), p.395.
  4. ↑ Lloyd's List, no.4408, - accessed 28 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 "No. 16536". The London Gazette . 29 October 1811. p. 2099.
  6. 1 2 3 "No. 16396". The London Gazette . 14 August 1810. p. 1229.
  7. 1 2 3 "No. 16446". The London Gazette . 22 January 1811. pp. 140–141.
  8. ↑ "No. 16493". The London Gazette . 4 June 1811. p. 1048.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "No. 16544". The London Gazette . 23 November 1811. p. 2268.
  10. ↑ "No. 16549". The London Gazette . 7 December 1811. p. 2369.
  11. ↑ "No. 16664". The London Gazette . 3 November 1812. p. 2221.
  12. 1 2 Gossett (1986), pp.78-9.
  13. ↑ Anderson (1910), p.344.
  14. ↑ Wandell (1915), p.369.
  15. ↑ "No. 16664". The London Gazette . 3 November 1812. p. 2222.
  16. ↑ "No. 16751". The London Gazette . 10 July 1813. p. 1365.
  17. ↑ "No. 16929". The London Gazette . 27 August 1814. p. 1740.
  18. ↑ "No. 16664". The London Gazette . 1 February 1812. p. 2221.
  19. ↑ Gossett (1986), p.85.
  20. ↑ Phillips, Michael - Ships of the Old Navy - Hero (1809)
  21. ↑ Cranwell and Crane (1940), p.381.
  22. 1 2 "Letter of Marque, p.68 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  23. ↑ Maclay (2004), p.200.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Egeria</i> (1807) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Egeria was a Royal Navy 26-gun Cormorant-class ship-sloop launched at Bridport in 1807. During the Gunboat War she captured three privateers and several merchant vessels. After the Napoleonic Wars she continued on active service until 1825, after which she served as a receiving or accommodation ship. She was eventually broken up in 1865.

Several ships have borne the name Black Joke, after an English song of the same name.

French frigate <i>Armide</i> (1804)

Armide was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1804 at Rochefort. She served briefly in the French Navy before the Royal Navy captured her in 1806. She went on to serve in the Royal Navy until 1815 when she was broken up.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the British Royal Navy made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's hired armed cutter Nimrod. Three such vessels are recorded, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches, and performed reconnaissance.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Admiralty also made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Swan. Actually there were two such cutters, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches and performed reconnaissance.

During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, two vessels have served the British Royal Navy as His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Idas, named for Idas, a figure from Greek mythology.

The British Royal Navy employed two vessels described as His Majesty's hired armed cutter Kent, the first during the French Revolutionary Wars and the second during the Napoleonic Wars.

His Majesty's hired armed cutter Ann served the British Royal Navy from 9 May 1795 to 19 October 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. She was of 10491⁄94 tons (bm) and carried twelve 3-pounder guns.

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.

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.

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.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the British Royal Navy employed at least two cutters designated His Majesty's hired armedcutterNile.

At least two vessels known as His Majesty's hired armed lugger Nile served the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. These may have been the same vessel on sequential contracts.

HMS <i>Rover</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Rover was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop laid down in 1804 but not launched until 1808. She served in the North Sea, off the north coast of Spain, in the Channel, and on the North American station. She captured two letters-of-marque and numerous merchant vessels before being laid-up in 1815. She then sat unused until she was sold in 1828. She became a whaler that made four voyages to the British southern whale fishery between 1830 and 1848. She was last listed in 1848.

HMS <i>Hotspur</i> (1810) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Hotspur was a 36-gun Fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate of the Royal Navy, built by Parsons of Warsash and launched on 13 October 1810.

Éole was an 18-gun corvette of the French Navy, launched, captured, and later commissioned in the Royal Navy in 1799 as HMS Nimrod after her capture by HMS Solebay. She was then "the finest and most handsome ship-sloop in the British navy". She was sold in 1811. Nimrod made three whaling voyages between 1811 and 1819. On her first she captured several American whalers. Nimrod was last listed in 1820.

Two vessels named His Majesty's hired armed lugger Sandwich served the British Royal Navy, one during the French Revolutionary Wars, and the other during the Napoleonic Wars.

Two vessels named His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Industry briefly served the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars as hired armed vessels.

Two vessels named His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Adrian served the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars as hired armed vessels.

HMS <i>Narcissus</i> (1801) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Narcissus was the lead ship of the Royal Navy Narcissus-class 32-gun fifth-rate frigates, launched in 1801. She participated in the War of 1812.

References

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.