The first hired armed cutter Industry (renamed Rhoda)
Industry was a cutter of 4588⁄94 tons (bm). She was armed with six 12-pounder carronades. She served under contract from 7 April 1804 to 7 December 1804. During her service she was renamed Rhoda.[1]
However, she apparently was still in service in 1805. furthermore, the National Maritime Museum database lists her as operating in 1807.[2]
At daylight on 12 February 1805, His Majesty's hired armed cutters Frisk and Rhoda sighted ten French gunbrigs and luggers passing through the Passage du Raz. Frisk captured the weathermost, a lugger, at 7:30 captured her about five miles from Pointe du Raz. She proved to be Gunvessel №288, armed with one 24-pounder gun, and with a complement of 25 men (20 were troops from the 44th Regiment), all under the command of enseigne de vaisseaux P. Roox.[3] At the same time, Rhoda, under the command of Lieutenant Jos. Bain Batt, gave chase to another of the luggers. After a chase of half-an-hour, and an exchange of gunfire, Rhoda succeeded in capturing the lugger. She was Gunvessel №313, armed with one 24-pounder gun, and with a complement of 22 men (18 of them soldiers), under the command of enseigne auxiliaire Frederick Widsmann. The gunvessel had had one man killed.[4]
Frisk and Rhoda were in company with the frigate Melampus. She succeeded in capturing two gunbrigs carrying two 24-pounder guns and one 18-pounder gun each, with a complement of 50 men each, primarily soldiers. Melampus also captured four luggers, each armed with one 18-pounder gun, and with complements of 25 men, mostly soldiers.[3] All the above French gunvessels were part of a group of 27 sailing from Bordeaux to Brest.[3] The cutter Nimble was also in company. The gunvessels Melampus captured were N°s 169, 174, 277, 286, 287, and 311.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]
The second hired armed cutter Industry (renamed Adrian)
Industry was a cutter of 8415⁄94 tons (bm). She carried eight 12-pounder carronades. She served under contract from 21 August 1804 to 25 August 1805. During her service she was renamed Adrian.[7]Adrian was in company with the frigate Diamond when on 1 and 2 June 1805 Adrian captured the chasse-maréesMarie and Sophie.[8] Before her contract with the Navy, Industry may have been the cutter Industry, William Johns, master, of 85 tons (bm), that received a letter of marque on 20 June 1803. This Industry was armed with six 1, 1½, and 2-pounder guns, and four swivel guns, and had a crew of 36 men.[9]
↑ The share of the prize money accruing to an able seaman on Melampus, Nimble, Frisk, or Rhoda was £1 9s 7d.[5]
↑ These six vessels, as well as the two that Frisk and Rhoda captured all appear to be Bateaux-cannoniers (gun vessels). The two brigs were probably Batîments de 1ème Espèce (vessels of the 1st type), and the six luggers Batîments de 2ème Espèce (vessels of the 2nd type), built to two designs by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait. Both types were designed to use 11 pairs of sweeps in addition to their sails. The brig-rigged type were designed to transport a company of infantry for an invasion force. The second type were three-masted lug-rigged vessels designed to transport an artillery piece, its caisson, and two horses.[6]
Leyland, John, ed. (1902). Dispatches and Letters Relating to the Blockade of Brest, 1803–1805. 2 & 21. Navy Records Society.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84832-204-2.
List of ships with the same or similar names
This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists.
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
Several ships have borne the name Black Joke, after an English song of the same name.
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1815. With the Dutch, she participated in a major action at Algiers and, then, in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.
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. She was so successful that the Norwegian merchants offered a considerable reward for Hero's capture.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy used several vessels that bore the designation His Majesty's hired armed cutter Lord Nelson, all named for Lord Horatio Nelson.
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.
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 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.
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.
The French lugger Affronteur was launched in 1795 and in 1796-7 participated in the Expédition d'Irlande. In 1803, HMS Doris captured her and she subsequently served the Royal Navy either as a commissioned vessel or, more probably, as His Majesty's hired armed brig Caroline. In 1807 she was either broken up, or became a letter of marque.
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.
His Majesty's hired armed vessel Aristocrat served the Royal Navy, twice, as a lugger from 1794 to 1798, and as a brig from 1799 to 1801. She served with the Jersey-based Channel Islands flotilla under Commodore Philippe d'Auvergne, Prince of Bouillon. As a lugger she participated in two notable engagements, the second of which won for her crew the Naval General Service Medal, awarded some 50 years later. As a brig, she captured two privateers.
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.
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.
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.
His Majesty's Hired armed cutter George was a cutter that served the Royal Navy between 6 June 1798 and 12 November 1801 under contract. She had a burthen of 125 34⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed two 6-pounder guns and twelve 12-pounder carronades. She captured one French privateer. During the Napoleonic Wars the French captured her and she served the French Navy until September 1813; she was struck from the French Navy's lists ca. 1816.
Hébé was a 38-gun of the French Navy, lead ship of the Hébé-class frigate.
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 Adrian served the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars as hired armed vessels.
HMS Growler was a Archer-class gun-brig built for the British Royal Navy and launched in 1804. She captured several French privateers and one Danish privateer, and took part in two actions that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She was sold in 1815.
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.
