French privateer:10 × 12 or 18-pounder carronades[3]
His Majesty's hired armedcutterJohn Bull served the British Royal Navy under contract between 5 May 1804 and 26 November 1806. She then became a privateer. She detained numerous vessels before she herself fell prey to a French privateer in 1809. She then became a French privateer. Her ultimate fate is currently unknown.
On 14 October 1804 John Bull delivered dispatches from Plymouth to Admiral Nelson in the Mediterranean. She left for Plymouth that same day.[4] On 4 November John Bull arrived from Gibraltar with dispatches from off Toulon.[5]
John Bull arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, on 28 March 1805 after a 38-day voyage from Plymouth. She was carrying dispatches, and the news of the commencement of war with Spain, though the order that Spanish vessels be detained was already known.
On the way out John Bull had encountered Acasta, which a gale had caused to separate from the convoy that Acasta she was escorting to Jamaica. Acasta intended to search for the convoy for a day or two.
From Jamaica John Bull sailed on to Barbados where 10 vessels of the convoy had arrived before she left.[6]
While on the Jamaica station, and prior to 1 June, John Bull, under the command of Lieutenant Kortwright, captured the French schooner Elizabeth, which was carrying a cargo of sundries.[7]
In mid-September John Bull detained and sent into Plymouth two vessels: Palinurius, Merrehew, master, from New York, and Sirene, Horkendorf, master, from Bordeaux.[8]
On 8 March 1806 John Bull, under the command of Lieutenant George Broad, captured the Spanish vessels Legero and Los Animos.[9] On 2 May John Bull arrived with dispatches from Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren concerning the British victory at the action of 13 March 1806
Between 18 and 21 June, Admiral Warren and a squadron were off Madeira. John Bull, Moucheron, and Whiting arrived at Madeira on 18 June and they sailed from Madeira to join the squadron on 21 June.[10]
In mid-January 1807 the privateers John Bull and Busy detained Vrow Anna, a Dane, which had been sailing from Marennes to Gothenburg.[11] A few days later John Bull detained and sent into Plymouth John Adams, which had been sailing from Alicante to Cochin.[12]
In early February John Bull detained the American vessel Henrietta, Nichols, master, which had been sailing from Leghorn.[13] A few weeks later John Bull detained and sent into Plymouth the Danish vessel Provistina Jacobsen, which had been sailing from Alicante.[14]
The privateers John Bull and Indefatigable sent the Danish ship Little Catherine, Beorne, master, into Plymouth on 24 June. Little Catherine had left Bengal on 1 February and St Helena on 28 April. When she left St Helena she left there the frigate Sir Edward Hughes, eleven home-bound East Indiamen, four whalers, and a vessel returning from Botany Bay.[15]
On 24 July John Bull sent into Dartmouth the Danish vessel Aurora, Pedersen, master, which had been sailing from Lisbon to Antwerp.[16] A day or so later John Bull detained and sent into Plymouth General Walterstof, Groot, master. General Walterstorf had been sailing from Saint Croix to Copenhagen.[17]
At the end of August John Bull detained Froe Secolitas, Sursen, master, which had come from Saint Thomas's. John Bull also detained Flask, Erickson, master, from Lisbon to Tonningen, and Neord, Tyson, master, from Oporto to Tonningen. John Bull sent all three into Plymouth.[18]
At the beginning of October John Bull detained and sent into Plymouth, Indogheten, Johnson, master, coming from Cette.[19]
On 10 October a small privateer captured Cornelius, Hussey, master, as Cornelius was sailing from Liverpool to Newfoundland. That same day John Bull recaptured Cornelius and sent her into Plymouth.[20]
Early in January 1808 John Bull detained Johanna, Suraisson, master, and sent her into Plymouth. Johanna had been sailing from Archangel to Oporto.[21]
On 17 August the Spanish schooner Diligente arrived at Plymouth. The privateer John Bull had detained her as Diligente was sailing from St Sebastian to St Andero.[22]
Early in September 1809 the letter of marque cutter John Bull captured the Spanish vessel N.S. Aransia. She had been sailing from Cadiz to Seville and John Bull brought her into Plymouth.[23]
Fate
In September the French privateer Pourvoyeur, of Dieppe, captured the cutter John Bull and carried her into that port.[24][lower-alpha 1] Apparently John Bull and Pourvoyeur exchanged fire, and then the French boarded John Bull and took her in hand-to-hand combat. The French reported having lost one man killed; British casualties were 14.[26][lower-alpha 2]
On his 20-day cruise, Balidar, captain of Pourvoyeur, gathered four prizes, including John Bull, that he sold in Dieppe. The other three prizes were: Little Arthur, Exchange (of Wells), and Suckey.[lower-alpha 3] He grossed 447,862 francs.[30]
John Bull was commissioned in August 1810 as a French privateer with ten 12 or 18-pounder carronades.[3]
Notes
↑ Pourvoyeur was a lugger of 40 men and eight guns, from Dieppe, and commissioned in August 1809. She apparently was a captured privateer from Jersey. Pourvoyeur was under Antoine-Joseph Preira, who used "Balidar" as a nom de guerre. From 1811 she cruised again, captain unknown.[25]
↑ The report, dated Dieppe, 14 September, gave the name of the owner of Pourvoyeur as M. Quenouille. It also described John Bull as being armed with ten 12 and 18-pounder carronades.[26]
↑ Little Arthur, Dawson, master, was going to Gibraltar when "a French privateer" captured her off the Scilly Isles.[27][28]Exchange, Smith, master, was sailing from Oporto to London when a privateer captured her on 8 December and took her into Dieppe.[29]
HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1858.
HMS Recruit was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1806 at Sandwich, Kent. She is best known for an act of pique by Commander Warwick Lake, who marooned a seaman, and for an inconclusive but hard-fought ship action under Commander Charles John Napier against the French corvette Diligente. She captured a number of American vessels as prizes during the War of 1812 before being laid up in 1815 and sold for breaking up in 1822.
HMS Persian was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Daniel List and launched at Cowes in 1809. She captured two privateers before she wrecked in 1813.
HMS Whiting was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1805. She was a participant at the Battle of Basque Roads. A French privateer captured her at the beginning of the War of 1812, shortly after the Americans had captured and released her in the first naval incident of the war.
His Majesty's hired armed ship Harlequin served the British Royal Navy from 2 July 1804 until she was wrecked on 7 December 1809. She was of 18537⁄94 tons (bm), and she carried an armament of ten 6-pounder guns, eight 12-pounder carronades, and two swivel guns. During her service with the Royal Navy Harlequin captured a number of prizes. In 1809, she was wrecked near Newhaven as she was escorting a convoy in the Channel.
HMS Moucheron was a French privateer, built in 1799, that the British captured in 1801. The British government purchased her in 1802 for the Royal Navy. She foundered in 1807 in the Mediterranean without leaving a trace.
Résistance was a 48-gun Vengeance-class frigate of the French Navy. HMS St Fiorenzo captured her in 1797 and the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Fisgard. She was sold in 1814.
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.
HMS Rosario was a 20-gun sixth rate of the British Royal Navy. She was previously the French privateer Hardi, which HMS Anson captured in 1800. The navy took her into service as HMS Hardi but renamed her HMS Rosario later in 1800. She was sold in 1809.
Invincible Napoleon was a three-masted French privateer commissioned in Bayonne in Spring 1804. She made numerous cruises until 1813–1814 when the British and the Americans repeatedly captured her. In her brief career as an American privateer she captured some 14 vessels. She finally ended up in British hands and was taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia as a prize.
Antoine-Joseph Preira, also known under the nom de guerre of Balidar, was of Portuguese origin but operated in the English Channel as a privateer under the French flag during the Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Royalist was launched in 1807. She captured many privateers and letters of marque, most French, but also some from Denmark and the United States. Her crew twice were awarded the Naval General Service Medal. She was instrumental in the capture of a French frigate. The Royal Navy sold her in 1819. She then became a whaler, making three complete voyages. She was condemned after a mishap while on her fourth.
Général Pérignon was a brig launched at Saint-Malo in February 1804 as a privateer. She captured numerous British merchant vessels over several cruises. In January 1810 the British Royal Navy captured her. She was sold in March 1810 and became a coaster sailing between Plymouth and London under her original name, or as Intention. She was last listed in 1816.
HMS Sharpshooter was launched in 1805. She operated in the Channel, often from the Channel Islands. She participated in two actions and captured a small number of merchant vessels. She was sold and broken up in 1816.
HMS Argus was launched in 1798 at Bordeaux as Argus. She became a privateer that the British Royal Navy (RN) captured in 1799. She served from April 1803 until she was broken up in April 1811.
HMS Parthian was launched at Deptford in 1808. During the Napoleonic Wars she captured one important French privateer, and several Danish, Dutch, and French merchantmen. After the war, Parthian captured a pirate schooner near Vera Cruz. Parthian was wrecked off Alexandria on 15 May 1828.
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.
She was probably a French vessel launched under another name and taken in prize early in 1793 after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. She became a Liverpool privateer, but was quickly captured. A few years later she became a French privateer. She captured several British merchantmen before in June 1796 a British naval brig captured her and her prizes.
Chesterfield was launched in 1806 at Portland. She served from November 1806 to her capture in October 1811, as a Post Office Packet Service packet, sailing between Weymouth and the Channel Islands. A French privateer captured her at the end of October 1811 in "a spirited but ineffectual" single ship action. She then became a French privateer that made several captures before the Royal Navy recaptured her.
References
Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 A 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN2-903179-30-1.
Galopin, Arnould; Schalck de La Faverie, Alfred; Leblond, Auguste (1911). G. Ficker (ed.). Le livre du millénaire de la Normandie: [911-1911] (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Nelson, Horatio, (1st Viscount) (1845) The dispatches and letters of vice admiral ... Nelson, with notes by sir N.H. Nicolas Harris Nicolas, G.C.M.G.:May 1804 - July 1805. Vol. 6. (London:Henry Colburn).
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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