During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the 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. [1]
The Navy Board usually hired the vessel complete with master and crew rather than bareboat. Contracts were for a specified time or on an open-ended monthly hire basis. [1] During periods of peace, such as the period between the Treaty of Amiens and the commencement of the Napoleonic Wars, the Admiralty returned the vessels to their owners, only to rehire many on the outbreak of war.[ citation needed ]
The Admiralty provided a regular naval officer, usually a lieutenant for the small vessels, to be the commander. The civilian master then served as the sailing master. [1] For purposes of prize money or salvage, hired armed vessels received the same treatment as naval vessels.[ citation needed ]
However, Admiral John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, wrote that throughout his life he "discouraged any friend of mine from serving in a cutter or hired armed vessel." [2] He felt that a good officer would be wasting his time in such vessels, while a bad officer should not be allowed to serve in them. Cutters and hired armed vessels generally did not receive the sort of opportunities that would allow a good officer to shine, or give him visibility to senior officers, while giving bad officers too much independence. The most suitable officers were good sailors with a common education. [2]
However, some officers that served in hired armed vessels went on to have distinguished subsequent naval careers. A case in point was Thomas Ussher, who rose from the hired armed brig Colpoys to become an admiral.[ citation needed ]
In 1801, the Royal Navy had some 130 hired armed vessels on its rolls. Of these, 12 were ship-rigged, 12 were brig-rigged, and most of the rest were cutters. All but eight served in home waters. [3]
Of the 76 vessels in service in November 1804, most were cutters, though six were luggers. The six were: [4]
| Name | Burthen (bm) | Crew | Armament | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agnes | 63 | 26 | 6 × 12-pounder carronades | £2017 12s |
| Fly by Night | 71 | 24 | 6 × 12-pounder carronades | £1118 18s 6d |
| Folkestone | 131 | 43 | 12 × 12-pounder carronades | £3816 16s |
| Lucy | 119 | 40 | 2 × 12-pounder guns + 6 × 12-pounder + 8 × 6-pounder carronades | £3536 |
| Nile | 170 | 50 | 14 × 12-pounder carronades | £4578 |
| Speculator | 93 | 33 | 10 × 12-pounder carronades | £3536 8s 9d |
During the period roughly 1804 to 1807, the vessels were sometimes referred to as, for example, His Majesty's armed defence ship Indefatigable, which recaptured Melcombe on 21 June 1804, [5] or hired armed defence-ship Norfolk.[ citation needed ]
Despite St Vincent's strictures, some of these vessels had military careers as distinguished as those of the Royal Navy's own vessels. For instance, between 1796 and 1801, the hired armed cutter Telemachus captured eight privateers in the Channel. The crew from some vessels qualified for clasps to the Naval General Service Medal (1847). Noteworthy examples include:
In each of these cases, the clasp bore the vessel's own name.
In this case the crew from Aristocrat shared the medal with two other vessels.
Some of these hired armed vessels also sailed under a letter of marque, either before (e.g. Duke of York) or after their service with the Royal Navy (e.g., Kitty or London Packet ).
With the resumption of war against France in 1803, the British government spent a great deal of money arming coastal vessels so that they might protect themselves against privateers. These vessels were neither letters of marque, that is, they did not have authorization to seek out and capture enemy vessels, nor were they hired armed vessels working for the Royal Navy. The government simply sought to augment the merchant fleet's defences. For example, in 1807, the Aberdeen Shipping Company had five vessels that had received 18-pounder carronades from the government; the company had also itself armed the London Packet. [6] The Old Ship Company of Leith advertised that its smack Queen Charlotte had been armed by the government. [7]
HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.
HMS Sirius was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Between 1797 and 1805, the Sirius was engaged in maintaining the blockade of Napoleonic Europe. She was lost in 1810 when her crew scuttled her after she grounded during the Battle of Grand Port.
HMS Druid was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1783 at Bristol. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous small prizes. One of her commanders, Captain Philip Broke, described Druid as a "point of honour ship", i.e., a ship too large to run but too small to fight. He and his biographer's view was that it was a disgrace to use a ship like her as a warship. She was broken up in 1813, after a thirty-year career.
HMS Atalante was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French Atalante, captured in 1797. She served with the British during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was wrecked in 1807.
HMS Snapper 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 1804. She cruised for some seven years, sharing in several captures of merchant vessels and taking some herself, before a French privateer captured her.
The hired armed cutter Black Joke was a cutter that served the Royal Navy from 12 January 1795 to 19 October 1801. In 1799 she was renamed Suworow, and under that name she captured numerous prizes before she was paid off after the Treaty of Amiens.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
HMS Anacreon was a French privateer launched in 1798 that the Royal Navy captured in 1799 and took into service. She had a brief career in which she took some minor prizes and engaged two enemy vessels in an inconclusive action. She was sold in December 1802.
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.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the British Royal Navy employed at least two cutters designated His Majesty's hired armedcutterNile.
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 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.
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.