Royal George was launched in 1803 as a brig for the Revenue Service. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Bustard. She served on active duty between 1808 and 1815, distinguishing herself in operations in the Mediterranean. She then sailed to the West Indies. The Royal Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whalerRoyal George. She made three whaling voyages and was lost in 1825 on her fourth.
The Revenue brig Royal George was launched at Cowes in 1803. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1806 and she arrived at Portsmouth on 11 June. The Navy renamed her Bustard. She underwent fitting there between March 1808 and 27 June 1808. Commander John Duff Markland commissioned her on 12 April 1808 for the Downs. On 21 February 1809 he sailed her for the Mediterranean.[2] In 1809-1810 Bustard was part of a squadron operating in the gulf of Venice and coast of Calabria. On 28 July 1809, the British observed an enemy convoy sailing along the northern coast towards Trieste. The 74-gunHMSExcellent forced the convoy to shelter at Duino. At midnight boats from the squadron pushed inshore. Bustard and Acorn provided support, with Bustard leading the way into a little-known anchorage. The British captured and brought out six Italian gunboats and ten 10-20 ton (bm) trabaccolos or coasters. Each of three of the gunboats carried a 24-pounder gun; these vessels were of 80 tons (bm). The other three gunboats, each of 60 tons (bm), each carried an 18-pounder. One coaster sank, but only after her captors had succeeded in removing her cargo of flour. The other coasters were carrying brandy, flour, rice, and wheat. Bustard had one man mortally wounded ant three others wounded. The Italians lost three officers captured (two of whom had been wounded), and 15 seamen and soldiers captured, one of whom later died.[4][lower-alpha 1] In 1847 the Navy awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "29 July Boat Service 1809" to all the remaining participants in the action.
On 17 May 1810 Bustard captured the French privateer corvette Minerve. Minerve was pierced for 18 guns but only mounting two.[6][7]
During July to September, Commander Markland commanded the sloops stationed at the Faro of Messina (Strait of Messina), to protect Sicily against invasion by Marat's army of 40,000 men encamped on the opposite shore.[8]
In June 1810, boats from Bustard and Volage, under Markland's command, Bustard, entered a port a few miles south of Cortone. There they destroyed 25 vessels carrying stores and provisions for Joachim Murat's army in Sicily.[9]
On 23 July Bustard and Halcyon destroyed two armed feluccas at "Contessa" (probably Concessa}), under Cape del Arme. The feluccas' crews, some soldiers, and the local peasantry defended the two vessels for some time.[10]
During Markland's time in the Strait of Messina Bustard continually engaged Murat's shore batteries and flotilla.[8] Eventually Murat had to give up his plan to invade Sicily and he returned to Naples.
On 31 January 1811 Markland transferred to HMSEclair. During his time with Bustard he had captured 25 prizes and destroyed 39 vessels.[8]
Commander Charles Burrough Strong assumed command of Bustard on 14 March. He sailed for the Leeward Islands on 3 April 1813.[2]Bustard was one of the escorts to a convoy that had left Cork bound for the West Indies and the Brazils.[11]
On 14 March 1814 Bustard, Eclipse, and Echo captured the schooner Ann and sent her into St Thomas.[12]
Bustard returned to Portsmouth from the West Indies on 21 August 1814. Commander James Augustus Seymour Crighton was appointed to Bustard on 3 September. She then escorted convoys to Spain, Portugal, and the south of France. Crighton transferred to Ringdove on 14 November.[13]
Commander Lord John Hay took command on 15 November 1814. In December Bustard had completed refitting and was ready for sea. She then escorted a convoy to Lisbon and returned to Portsmouth by mid-January 1815. Bustard was paid off in 1815.
Disposal: The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Royal Navy" offered "Bustard, brig, of 270 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 12 October 1815.[14] She sold there on that date for £720.[2]
Whaler
The shipowners William and Daniel Bennett purchased Royal George in 1816. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1816 with W. Buckle, master, Bennett & Co., owners, and trade London–South Seas.[15]
1st whaling voyage (1816–1818): Captain Richard Buckle sailed from London in 1816, bound for the waters off Peru. Royal George returned on 9 June 1818 with 450 casks of whale oil.[16]
2nd whaling voyage (1818–1821): Captain Buckle sailed from London on 17 July 1818, bound for the waters off Peru. Royal George returned on 15 April 1821 with 520 casks of whale oil.[16]
3rd whaling voyage (1821–1823): Captain Buckle sailed from London on 10 June 1821, bound for the waters off Peru. Royal George returned on 30 September 1823 with 550 casks of whale oil.[16]
Lloyd's Register (1823) showed Royal George's master changing from W. Buckley to J. Barney.[3]
Fate
Captain David Burney (or Barney), sailed from London on 12 January 1824, bound for the seas off Japan and for the Sandwich Islands. Royal George was lost on 9 April 1825 at Woohoo (Oahu). She was carrying 600 barrels of whale oil at the time.[16][17]
Notes
↑ Head money for the crews of the six gunboats was paid on 6 January 1825. A first-class share was worth £39 7s 4¼d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 5s 9¼d.[5]
HMS Volage was a Laurel-class sixth-rate post-ship of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic War, capturing four privateers and participating in the Battle of Lissa (1811). She was sold in 1818. Her new owners renamed her Rochester and she served in a commercial capacity for another 12 years, first sailing between England and India, and then making two voyages to the South Seas as a whaler. She was last listed in Lloyd's List in 1831.
HMS Eclipse was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John King at Dover and launched in 1807. She served off Portugal and then in the Indian Ocean at the capture of the Île de France. Shortly thereafter she captured Tamatave. She was sold for mercantile service in 1815. She traded with India until 1823. Then between 1823 and 1845 she made seven voyages as a whaler.
HMS Lynx was a 16-gun ship-rigged sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Gravesend. In 1795 she was the cause of an international incident when she fired on USRC Eagle. She was at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, and during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars took numerous prizes, mostly merchant vessels but also including some privateers. She was also at the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She was sold in April 1813. She then became the whaler Recovery. She made 12 whaling voyages in the southern whale fishery, the last one ending in 1843, at which time her owner had her broken up.
HMS Talbot was a British Royal Navy 18-gun sloop-of-war built by James Heath & Sons, of East Teignmouth, and launched in 1807. Perhaps her greatest accomplishment was the reversal of the liberation of Iceland that the colorful, erratic, former Royal Navy seaman and privateer Jørgen Jørgensen had carried out. Talbot was sold in 1815 for mercantile service. Renamed George, she interspersed several voyages to Ceylon and India with three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1831.
HMS Charybdis was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Mark Richards and John Davidson at Hythe, and launched in 1809. She captured two American prizes during the War of 1812 before she was laid up in 1815 and sold in 1819. She apparently then became the whaler Greenwich, which made three voyages for Samuel Enderby & Sons and one for Daniel Bennett & Son. She was wrecked in the Seychelles in 1833 on her fourth whaling voyage.
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.
Ronco was a French Illyrien or Friedland-class brig built at Venice and launched in April 1808. HMS Unite captured her less than two months later. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Tuscan. She served in the Mediterranean and participated in one action that earned her crew a Naval General Service Medal. She was first offered for sale in 1816 and sold in 1818. At that time mercantile interests purchased her and she became a whaler, making six voyages before being condemned as no longer seaworthy in March 1840 and sold in April during her seventh voyage.
Nettuno was a French Illyrien or Friedland-class brig built at Venice and launched in June 1807. HMS Unite captured her a year later off Zara. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Cretan. She served in the Mediterranean. She was sold in 1814. Between 1815 and 1831 she made five voyages as a whaler.
HMS Kangaroo was an 18-gun sloop of the Royal Navy launched in 1805. The Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whaler Countess of Morley. After three whaling voyages she became a merchantman. She may have been condemned c.1827; she was last listed in 1833.
Charming Kitty was a ship captured from the Spanish. She first appeared in Gret Britain's Protection Lists for whalers in 1799. She conducted four whaling voyages between 1799 and 1808 before becoming a West Indiaman, trading with the Caribbean. She was wrecked in October 1813.
HMS Foxhound was the French Navy's brig Basque, launched in 1809, that the British Royal Navy captured in 1809 and took into service as a 16-gun sloop. She had a relatively brief naval career in which she captured a number of merchant vessels. After the Navy sold her in 1816, she made some 10 or 11 whaling voyages between 1817 and 1848.
Serpent was a French navy brig of the Palinure class, launched in 1807 at Paimbeouf (Nantes) as Rivolli, but renamed. HMS Acasta captured her in 1808 in the Caribbean and the British Royal Navy took her into service there as HMS Pert but renamed her Asp. The navy disposed of her in 1814. She then made five voyages as a whaler, and wrecked in December 1828 on her sixth voyage.
Eliza was a French prize that made nine voyages as a whaler between 1802 and 1822. She is last listed in 1824.
HMS Coquette was launched in 1807 and spent her naval career patrolling in the Channel and escorting convoys. In 1813 she engaged an American privateer in a notable but inconclusive single-ship action. The Navy put Coquette in ordinary in 1814 and sold her in 1817. She became a whaler and made five whaling voyages to the British southern whale fishery before she was lost in 1835 on her sixth.
HMS Inspector was launched in 1801 at Mistley as the mercantile Amity. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and named her HMS Inspector. The Navy laid her up in 1808 before selling her in 1810. She then returned to mercantile service. Between 1818 and 1825 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She returned to mercantile service and was last listed in 1833 as being at Falmouth.
Norfolk was built in France in 1784 under a different name. The British captured her c. 1800 and she made some voyages as a West Indiaman. She also made a cruise as a privateer. Between 1803 and 1808 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense and hired armed ship on the Leith Station. She spent her time escorting convoys in the North Sea and captured one French privateer. After her naval service, between 1808 and 1814 Norfolk was a London-based transport. From 1814 to 1820 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
Brook Watson was launched in 1796, probably in Holland but possibly in Denmark. She became a prize in 1801 and by 1802 was a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She made two whaling voyages between 1802 and 1806. She then became a West Indiaman and was last listed in 1809 or 1810.
Thames was a Spanish vessel launched in 1804, almost certainly under a different name, and captured circa 1805. She became a whaler, making eight whaling voyages between 1805 and 1826. Although the registers carried Thames for some years after her return from her eighth voyage, there is no evidence that she ever sailed again.
Grand Sachem was launched at Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1801. She was registered at Bideford in 1803, but until 1815 sailed from Milford Haven. Between approximately 1803 and 1822, she made eight voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1822 and was broken up in 1826.
HMS Lyra was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched at Deptford in 1808 for the Royal Navy. In 1809 she was one of the vessels that participated in the Battle of Basque Roads. Thereafter, she captured numerous small prizes. Between 1812 and 1814 she served off the Spanish coast. In 1816 Lyra sailed to China as escort to a diplomatic mission. The Navy sold her in 1818. She then became a whaler. Between 1819 and 1833 she made five voyages in the southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1833.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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