Queen Charlotte (1801 ship)

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
Builder Emsworth
Launched1801
FateLast listed 1820
General characteristics
Tons burthen185, [1] or 190 [2] (bm)
Complement25 [2]
Armament
  • 1807:6 × 4-pounder guns + 4 × 12-pounder carronades
  • 1808: 14 × 12-pounder carronades + 6 swivel guns [2]
  • 1814: 10 × 9-pounder guns

Queen Charlotte was built in Emsworth in 1801. She was a regular packet ship for the Post Office Packet Service, sailing out of Falmouth. She made several voyages across the Atlantic between late 1802 and 16 May 1805 when she was captured. She came back into British hands around 1806. The Post Office took her into temporary service between 1812 and 1817. In 1815, she was involved in a friendly fire incident. She then became a whaler off Peru in 1818. She remained in the Pacific Coast of South America until she was condemned there in 1820 as unseaworthy; she was last listed that same year. She may have been repaired and have continued to trade on the coast until 1822.

Contents

Career

Packet

Queen Charlotte was launched in 1801. She was a regular packet and made several voyages across the Atlantic between late 1802 and 16 May 1805 when the French privateer Hirondelle captured her at 47°20′N12°20′W / 47.333°N 12.333°W / 47.333; -12.333 after an engagement that lasted two hours. [3] [lower-alpha 1] A report in Lloyd's List stated that a Spanish privateer had captured her after an engagement of 2½ hours and taken her into Vicero, near Passages. [5] By the time Mudge surrendered, two of his carronades were out of action. Also, a shot had dismounted one of his three cannons on the engaging side. [6]

Merchantman

Queen Charlotte came back into British hands and appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1807. [1] She was mentioned in the press before that. For instance, on 19 May 1806 the armed ship Caroline, Lieutenant Darby, sailed with Queen Charlotte to Greenock as an escort. [7]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1807M.GardnerNewmanLiverpool–NewfoundlandLR
1808Gardner
Long
C.J.Lye		Newman
Greve & Co.		Dartmouth–London
London–West Indies		LR

On 26 March 1808 Captain Charles John Lye acquired a letter of marque. [2]

Packet

The Post Office service re-engaged Queen Charlotte as a temporary packet in 1812. William Kirkness was appointed master on 8 September 1812. [8]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1812C.J.Lye
Kirkness		Greve & Co.London–SurinamLR

In November 1812 Queen Charlotte, Kirkness, master, was at Georgetown, Demerara when Kirkness observed a strange vessel cruising outside the harbour. He went ashore and informed Governor Hugh Lyle Carmichael that an American privateer was cruising outside the harbour. Carmichael had that morning received intelligence that the US privateer Rattlesnake and another privateer were on their way to intercept the fleet of merchantmen from Cork that was expected to arrive shortly. there were no Royal Navy vessels at Georgetown so Carmichael asked Kirkness to help. [9]

Kirkness took on board a large body of troops and some volunteers from the local militia and sailed out. They sighted the two privateers as they left the port but the privateers, uncharacteristically, held back. They followed Queen Charlotte until she met the fleet, and then sailed away. [9]

Queen Charlotte sailed from Demerara on 11 November and Martinique on 22 November. She arrived back at Falmouth on 31 December 1812.

On 19 January 1813 Queen Charlotte sailed for New York under a flag of truce. As it happened, she went no further than Bermuda. She was at Bermuda between 1 March and 15 April. She returned to Falmouth on 13 May.

On 17 March 1815 Captain William Kirkness sailed Queen Charlotte from Falmouth. She was at Madeira on 10–11 April, and arrived at Rio de Janeiro on 26 May. She left there on 18 June, and left Bahia on 2 July. She arrived back at Falmouth on 26 August.

On 21 January 1815 Queen Charlotte encountered HMS Harlequin at 36°59′N37°9′W / 36.983°N 37.150°W / 36.983; -37.150 . By one account Queen Charlotte was on her way to Suriname; by another account, she was 20 days out of Guadeloupe on her way back to Falmouth. By mistake an engagement ensued in which Harlequin had her first lieutenant killed and a man wounded. [10]

Captain Kirkness sailed from Falmouth on 22 March 1816. Queen Charlotte returned to Falmouth on 14 June. She sailed via Surinam and Guadeloupe. Captain Beer replaced Kirkness, being appointed on 28 June 1816. [8]

Captain Thomas Beer sailed Queen Charlotte from Falmouth on 19 December 1816. She was at Madeira from 28–29 December. She arrived at Bahia on 26 January 1817 and left it on the 26th; she sailed from Rio on 23 February. She arrived back at Falmouth on 13 May.

Captain Beer sailed from Falmouth on 14 June. She was at Madeira on 3–4 July. She arrived at Rio on 18 August and left on 11 September. She was at Bahia on 28–30 September. She left Pernambuco on 9 October, and arrived at Falmouth on 14 November. This was her last voyage as a mail packet.

Whaler

Her owners, Bullock & Co., next sailed her on a whaling voyage after she undergone small repairs in 1818.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1818Kirkness
Morris		Bullock & Co.Falmouth packet
Plymouth–South Seas		LR
1820MorrisBullock & Co.Plymouth–South SeasLR

Captain Morris sailed for Peru on 18 August 1818. [11] Prior to 11 April 1820 the Plymouth whaler Queen Charlotte reportedly put into Valparaiso unseaworthy and it was expected that she would be condemned. [12] Queen Charlotte was last listed in LR in 1820.

However, she may have been sold locally and repaired. Between 1820 and 1821 there are a number of mentions in Lloyd's List of a Queen Charlotte, Mason, master, sailing along the Pacific coast of South America. (There are also no further mentions of a Queen Charlotte with Morris, master. (Mentions of a Queen Charlotte, Moss, master, are of a vessel launched on the Thames that traded with Brazil and Argentina, but that apparently never sailed into the Pacific.)

On 8 October 1820 Queen Charlotte sailed from Lima. Then on 12 May 1821 Queen Charlotte, Mason, master, arrived at Valparaiso from Cobega, Chile. On 16 September 1821 Qucen Charlotte [sic], Mason, master, sailed from Valparaiso for the Peruvian coast. The next mention is that she arrived at Valparaiso on 26 January 1822 from Guayaquil. On 24 September she arrived at Callao from Valparaiso.

Thereafter she disappears from Lloyd's List. She may well have been again sold locally, and renamed.

Notes

  1. ↑ Her master was John Mudge. In 1807 he became master of a second Queen Charlotte. He and many of his crew drowned when this latter Queen Charlotte was wrecked in January 1814. [4]

Citations

  1. 1 2 LR (1807), "Q" supple. pages, Seq.№Q6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Letter of Marque, p.83 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "No. 15827". The London Gazette . 23 July 1805. p. 955.
  4. ↑ Howat (1984), p. 22.
  5. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4226. 18 June 1805. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735022.
  6. ↑ Pawlyn (2003), p. 75.
  7. ↑ "POSTSCRIPT". Trewman's Exeter Flying Post (Exeter, England), 22 May 1806; Issue 2222.
  8. 1 2 Howat (1984), p. 25.
  9. 1 2 Norway (1895), pp. 237–239.
  10. ↑ "NAVAL INTELLIGENCE". Liverpool Mercury etc (Liverpool, England), 17 February 1815; Issue 190.
  11. ↑ "British Southern Whale Fishery : Voyages: Queen Charlotte". Whaling History. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5509. 18 August 1820. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735030.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post Office Packet Service</span>

The Post Office Packet Service dates to Tudor times and ran until 1823, when the Admiralty assumed control of the service. Originally, the Post Office used packet ships to carry mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. The vessels generally also carried bullion, private goods and passengers. The ships were usually lightly armed and relied on speed for their security. However, Britain was at war almost continuously during the 18th and early 19th centuries with the result that packet ships did get involved in naval engagements with enemy warships and privateers, and were occasionally captured.

Princess Amelia (1799 packet)

Princess Amelia was launched in 1799 and became a packet for the British Post Office Packet Service, sailing from Falmouth, Cornwall. She sailed to North America, the West Indies, Mediterranean, and Brazil. In 1800 a French privateer captured her, but she returned to the packet service later the same year. Joshua Barney, in the American privateer Rossie , captured her on 16 September 1812, at the start of the War of 1812. The United States Navy took her into service as HMS Georgia, but then renamed her USS Troup. She served as a guardship at Savannah; the Navy sold her in 1815.

Francis and Eliza was a brig built in 1782 upon the River Thames, England. An American privateer captured her in 1815 while she was transporting convicts from Ireland to Port Jackson, New South Wales, and then released her. She was condemned in 1819 by a United States court for having violated U.S. law, and was sold in 1820.

A number of sailing ships have been named Queen Charlotte.

HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in north American waters where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.

Antelope was launched at Nantes in 1804 under another name. The British captured her and the High Court of Admiralty condemned her on 1 June 1807. She sailed to the Pacific, possibly as a whaler, where she captured a Spanish vessels. In 1811 she made one voyage to India for the British East India Company. She next traded with South America and the Mediterranean. A United States privateer captured her in 1814, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She was probably broken up circa 1824.

Snake was probably launched in Spain in 1802 and was a prize that came into British hands in 1808. Her first owner employed her a privateer, but in 1810 sold her. Thereafter she sailed between London or Plymouth and the Cape of Good Hope (CGH), or between 1809 and 1816 in the Post Office Packet Service from Falmouth. Afterwards she sailed between London and South America. She was last listed in 1824.

Little Catherine was launched in 1801 at Bermuda, probably under another name. She was condemned in prize in May 1809 at Barbados and entered British registry that year. At that time she traded between Liverpool and Africa. In 1813 she became a temporary packet sailing for the Post Office Packet Service from Falmouth, Cornwall. In 1813 the French Navy captured her and abandoned her after taking off her crew. The Royal Navy recovered her three days later. In 1814 an American privateer captured her but the Royal Navy recaptured her within two weeks. Her owner refused to pay salvage and turned her over to the Post Office which returned her to use as a Falmouth packet but renamed her Blucher, in honour of Prince Blucher who had helped defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The government sold Blucher in 1823. New owners returned her to the name Little Catherine and she continued to sail widely until she was last listed in 1845, having been sold to a Chinese owner. She was wrecked in October 1847.

Queen Charlotte was a Falmouth packet boat, launched in 1807 at Falmouth. She was wrecked at Lisbon in 1814.

Manchester was originally built at Falmouth in 1805, and served the Post Office Packet Service. Hence, she was generally referred to as a packet ship, and often as a Falmouth packet. In 1813 an American privateer captured her after a single-ship action, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her quickly. She returned to the packet trade until 1831 when she became a whaler, making one whaling voyage to the Seychelles. From 1835 she was a merchantman, trading between London and Mauritius. She was last listed in 1841.

Windsor Castle was launched at Yarmouth in 1804. She spent her entire 11-year career as a Falmouth packet, primarily on the Falmouth–Halifax–New York–Halifax–Falmouth route and the Falmouth–Leeward Islands–Falmouth route. She also sailed on some other voyages. She was involved in two notable single-ship actions. In the first, in 1807, she captured her attacker, a French privateer schooner, in a sanguinary encounter. In the second, in 1815, an American privateer captured her. A prize crew took her into Norfolk, Virginia, where she was sold at auction.

Duke of Montrose was a Falmouth packet launched in 1804. She participated in six single-ship actions. During the Napoleonic Wars she captured a French naval schooner but a year or so later a French privateer captured her. She returned to British hands some nine months later. During the War of 1812 she was able to drive off American privateers twice. An American frigate captured her in 1813 but gave her up to her crew, also putting onboard the crews of other vessels the frigate had captured. Then a French frigate also captured her and gave her up after disarming her. She was wrecked at Barbados in 1815.

Hinchinbrook was built in America in 1812. By 1814 she was carrying mails for the Post Office Packet Service from Falmouth, Cornwall. In May 1814 she repelled an attack by an American privateer in a single-ship action. She was wrecked in May 1816.

Grace was launched in New York in 1812. She was taken in prize circa 1814. She then became a Falmouth, Cornwall, packet, sailing for the Post Office. She primarily sailed to New York via Halifax and Bermuda, but also sailed to the Mediterranean and Brazil. She twice encountered American privateers, repelling one and outpacing the other. In 1821 she sailed on a seal and whale hunting voyage to the South Shetland Islands and the coast of Chile. She foundered in the South Atlantic circa May 1823 while homeward bound.

Townshend Packet was launched at Falmouth in 1800 as a packet for the Post Office Packet Service. She made numerous voyages between Falmouth and Lisbon and also sailed to the West Indies, Brazil, and the Mediterranean. She had two engagements with American privateers. In the first the Americans captured her, but then released her. In the second she repelled her attacker. A French frigate captured her in 1814 and then sank her.

Lady Mary Pelham was launched in 1811 as a packet based in Falmouth, Cornwall for the Post Office Packet Service. She repelled attack by privateers in 1812 and 1813, the latter being a notable and controversial engagement with an American privateer. Another American privateer captured her in February 1815 in the West Indies. New owners retained her name and between 1815 and at least 1824 she continued to sail to the Continent and South America.

Express Packet was built in France in 1807, probably under another name, and taken in prize circa 1808. From 1809 she sailed as a packet for the Post Office Packet Service out of Falmouth, Cornwall. In 1812 an American privateer captured her in a notable single ship action, but then returned her to her captain and crew after plundering her. Express stopped sailing as a packet in 1817 and then made one more voyage to Spain, after which she disappeared from online records.

Ann was launched in America in 1800, possibly under another name. She transferred to the United Kingdom in 1805. Between 1810 and 1813 she became a temporary packet operating out of Falmouth, Cornwall for the Post Office Packet Service. American privateers twice captured her in 1813 in single ship actions.

Mary Ann was launched in 1807 at Liverpool. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then became a West Indiaman. From 1811 she became a Falmouth packet. In 1813 a United States privateer captured her.

Prince Adolphus was launched in 1795 at Falmouth, Cornwall as a packet sailing for the Post Office Packet Service. She was involved in two notable incidents. In 1798, a French privateer captured her, but Prince Adolphus was ransomed in a transaction that required an amendment to a Bill before Parliament. In 1805 her crew mutinied in Falmouth before she set off on a cruise. The mutiny, subsequently joined by the crew of another packet, led the Post Office temporarily to move the packet service from Falmouth to Plymouth. An American privateer captured Prince Adolphus in 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.