| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Lord Mulgrave |
| Namesake | Lord Mulgrave |
| Builder | Whitby [1] |
| Launched | 1783 [1] |
| Fate | Wrecked April 1799 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 421, [2] or 429, [3] or 500, [1] or 600 [4] (bm) |
| Armament | 20 × 6-pounder guns [3] + 8 swivel guns [5] |
Lord Mulgrave was launched at Whitby in 1783. She had a mercantile career until 1793 when the Admiralty hired her to serve as an armed ship protecting convoys. She was wrecked in 1799.
Lord Mulgrave first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1783 with Easterby, master, J. Addison, owner, and traded Whitby–Riga. [1] [lower-alpha 1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Notes and source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1786 | Skinner R. Chettin | J. Addison | Norway–London Cork-based transport | Lloyd's Register [4] |
| 1790 | H. Chilton Joseph Smith | J. Addison | Saint Petersburg−London | Lloyd's Register |
| 1793 | J. Smith | F. Easterby | Cork transport | Lloyd's Register [2] |
In September 1786 Lord Mulgrave, Chilton, master, arrived at Dover from Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the 33rd Regiment of Foot. [7]
Lord Mulgrave was reported to be "all well" on 13 July 1787 near Newfoundland while on her way to Quebec. [8]
The Admiralty hired Lord Mulgrave and on 13 April 1793 published her establishment (weapons and manning). The outbreak of war with France had created a requirement for a large number of smaller vessels to protect England's trade, which provided a target-rich environment for French privateers. The Admiralty responded by hiring a number of small merchantmen, and purchasing others.
| Year | Commander | Station | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1793 | George Maxwell | Commissioned Lord Mulgrave in April | |
| 1793-95 | Robert Rolles | North Sea | |
| 1795-1797 | John Smith | Died 1797 [9] | |
| 1797-98 | Edward Williams | Channel | |
| 1799 | Edward Hawkins | Channel | |
Under Commander Robert Rolles Lord Mulgrave convoyed vessels between Spithead and Hull. The insurance underwriters at Hull presented him with a "handsome piece of plate" for his "great care and diligent attention to their interests". On 12 August 1795 Rolles was promoted to post captain into HMS Laurel. [10]
In March 1797 Lord Mulgrave was at Scilly with a convoy. While she was there, a violent gust of wind overturned her boat with Commander Smith on board. He and three crew members were drowned; three crew members were saved. [11]
On 9 April 1799 Commander Hawkins sailed Lord Mulgrave from Cork for Dublin. At about 4a.m.[ when? ] she grounded on the Arklow Bank, a shallow water sandbank in the Irish Sea, around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) off the coast of Arklow. She started to take on water so the crew threw ballast overboard and increased the sail area to try to drive her off the Bank. They succeeded about two hours later but she was taking on so much water that Hawkins steered her for the land. In about another two hours, as water was up to main deck, she ran onto the beach near Arklow. [12]
The Navy may have salvaged her and taken some time to decide whether to take her back into service, before deciding to dispose of her. Steele's Navy List for April 1800 still listed Lord Mulgrave among the hired armed vessels with Lieutenant Samuel Bateman in command and Joseph Smith Master; it also did not include her in the list of vessels lost. However, the official lists do not show her being recommissioned; Hawkins is the last commander listed. [13] Nor are there any paybooks or logs after June 1799, the month of Hawkins's court martial for the loss. Lieutenant Bateman was promoted to commander in 1801 and died in 1803.
Surprize was a three-deck merchant vessel launched in 1780 that made five voyages as a packet ship under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). The fourth of which was subsequent to her participating in the notorious Second Fleet transporting convicts to Port Jackson (EIC). Her fifth voyage for the EIC was subsequent to her second voyage transporting convicts to Australia. In 1799 a French frigate captured her in the Bay of Bengal.
HMS Proselyte was a 32-gun Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate. She was the former Dutch 36-gun frigate Jason, built in 1770 at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her crew mutinied and turned her over to the British in 1796. She then served the Royal Navy until she was wrecked in 1801.
Aréthuse, launched in April 1798, was the name-ship of the eponymous Aréthuse-class corvettes of the French Navy. Excellent captured her in 1799. The Royal Navy took her into service under the name HMS Raven. She was wrecked in 1804.
Diadem was a sloop launched in 1798. The Admiralty renamed her HMS Falcon after purchasing her in 1801 to avoid confusion with the pre-existing third rate Diadem. Falcon served in the north Atlantic and the Channel, and then in Danish waters during the Gunboat War. She was sold in 1816. Her new owner renamed her Duke of Wellington and sailed her to the Indies under a license from the British East India Company. She was wrecked in 1820 at Batavia.
The British Royal Navy purchased HMS Shark on the stocks in 1775. She was launched in 1776, and in 1778 converted to a fireship and renamed HMS Salamander. The Navy sold her in 1783. She then became the mercantile Salamander. In the 1780s she was in the northern whale fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to Australia. She then became a whaling ship in the southern whale fishery for a number of years, before becoming a general transport and then a slave ship. In 1804 the French captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Although she is last listed in 1811, she does not appear in Lloyd's List (LL) ship arrival and departure (SAD) data after 1804.
Tarleton was a 14-gun brig launched in 1780 at Glasgow. She was a letter of marque that made one capture. The French captured Tarleton in October 1782 in the Caribbean. They took her back to France in 1783 and she was subsequently stationed at Brest, where she served in the Mediterranean. The British recaptured her at Toulon in 1793 and she then served in the Mediterranean until no later than 1798 when she disappears from the lists.
Ceres was an East Indiaman launched in 1787. She made three trips to China for the British East India Company (EIC). After the outbreak of war with France in 1793, the Admiralty, desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy, purchased a number of commercial vessels, including nine East Indiamen, to meet the need for small two-decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts. The Admiralty purchased Ceres in 1795 and renamed her HMS Grampus. In 1797 the Admiralty converted her to a storeship. That year her crew participated in the Spithead and Nore mutinies. Grampus grounded in January 1799 and was destroyed.
Royal Charlotte was launched in 1789 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made two trips to China for the EIC and on the second of these, after the outbreak of war with France in 1793, assisted at the British capture of Pondicherry. Then, the Admiralty, desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy, purchased a number of commercial vessels, including nine East Indiamen, to meet the need for small two-decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts. The Admiralty purchased Royal Charlotte in 1795 and renamed her HMS Malabar. She made a trip to the West Indies where she was the lead ship of a small squadron that captured some Dutch colonies. She foundered in 1796 while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic.
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.
HMS Seagull, was a Royal Navy Diligence-class brig-sloop, launched in 1795. During the French Revolutionary Wars she shared in the capture of a number of small French and Dutch privateers. Then early in the Napoleonic Wars she participated in a notable single-ship action before she disappeared without a trace in 1805.
HMS Scourge was the former merchant sloop Herald, launched in 1799, that the Admiralty purchased in 1803 for service as a convoy escort. The Admiralty had her laid up in 1805, and sold in 1816. Subsequent owners returned her to mercantile service and she sailed until 1835 when she was lost.
HMS Acheron was the mercantile New Grove, launched at Whitby in 1799, that the Admiralty purchased in 1803 and fitted as a bomb-vessel. She served in the Mediterranean for about a year. On 3 February 1805 she and Arrow were escorting a convoy from Malta to England when they encountered two French frigates. Arrow and Acheron were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. Arrow sank almost immediately after surrendering, and Acheron was so badly damaged that the French burnt her. However, the British vessels' self- sacrifice enabled almost all the vessels of the convoy to escape.
Chapman was a two-deck merchant ship built at Whitby in 1777. She made three voyages to India or China for the British East India Company (EIC), during the first of which she was present at the battle of Porto Praya. During the French Revolutionary Wars she served as a hired armed ship, primarily escorting convoys but also seeing some action. Later, she undertook one voyage to Mauritius transporting troops, one voyage carrying settlers to South Africa, and three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She was last listed in 1853.
HMS Selby was the mercantile Selby built in 1791 at Whitby. She was a North Sea and Baltic trader until the British Royal Navy purchased her in 1798. Selby's purchase was one of a number of purchases of armed ships or ship-sloops where the Navy's intent was to use them as convoy escorts. Selby was at the raid on Dunkirk, though she played no real role. The Navy sold her in 1801. She then returned to being a merchantman. She was probably wrecked in February 1807, but was still listed until 1810, trading between London and Jamaica.
HMS Cockatrice was the fourth of the Alert-class British Royal Navy cutters. She was launched in 1781 and had an uneventful career until the Navy sold her in 1802. Private interests purchased her, lengthened her, and changed her rig to that of a brig. They hired her out to the Navy and she was in service as a hired armed brig from 1806 to 1808. She then returned to mercantile service until she was condemned at Lisbon in May 1816 as not worth repairing.
HMS Pilote was a cutter launched for the French Navy at Dunkirk in 1778. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1779 and took her into service under her existing name. It sold her in 1799.
Andersons was launched at Poole in 1798. She then made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the end of the British slave trade in 1807 her owners sold her to new owners who employed her as a West Indiaman. By 1810 she was registered in Whitby. She then served as a general merchant vessel until she was wrecked in 1823.
Hannah was launched at Whitby in 1793. Her owner in 1796 transferred her registry from Whitby to London. She traded with the Baltic, between London and Liverpool, and then the Baltic again. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Bellona was launched at Lancaster in 1799. She was a West Indiaman that made one voyage as a whaler. She disappeared in 1809 as she was returning to England from Jamaica.
Mackworth was launched at Neath in 1779. The Admiralty immediately hired her and from June 1779 to March 1783 she served as an armed ship. Between 1783 and 1786 Mackworth traded with the Baltic and the West Indies. In 1786 new owners renamed her Ceres. Ceres was last listed in 1794 with data unchanged since 1791.
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