HMS Havannah (1811)
Encyclopedia
HMS Havannah was a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
36-gun fifth-rate
Fifth-rate
In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...
frigate. She was launched at the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
yard of Wilson & Co. in 1811 and was one of twenty-seven Apollo-class frigates
Apollo class frigate
The Apollo-class sailing frigates were a series of twenty-seven ships that the British Admiralty commissioned be built to a 1798 design by Sir William Rule. Twenty-five served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, two being launched too late....
. She was cut down to a 24-gun sixth rate in 1845, converted to a training ship in 1860 and sold for breaking in 1905.
War service
Havannahs first captain was George CadoganGeorge Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan
Admiral George Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan KMT, CB was a prominent British Royal Navy officer and politician of the mid-nineteenth century who first gained notoriety for his service in the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars in command of...
, who commissioned her into the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
. Havannah was rapidly involved in operations against French coastal shipping off the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
.
On 6 September 1811, the boats of Havannah, under the command of her first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
William Hamley, landed a party that spiked the three 12-pounder guns of a battery on the south-west side of the Penmarks. They then brought out several coasting vessels that had taken refuge under the guns, all without taking any losses.
- Schooner Aimable Fanny, laden with wine and brandy.
Also, several chasse marees:
- St. Jean, laden with salt;
- Petit Jean Baptiste, laden with wine and brandy;
- Buonaparte, laden with wine and brandy;
- Voltigeur, laden with wine and brandy; and
- lastly, one of unknown name, laden with wine and brandy, dismantled and set on fire but later extinguished.
In 1812, Cadogan took Havannah to join the squadron operating in the Adriatic from the island of Lissa
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
. On 24 April 1812 , and Havannah landed Lieutenant-colonel George Duncan Robertson, his staff and a garrison at Port St. George on Lissa
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
. The British had defeated a French naval force on 13 March at the Battle of Lissa
Battle of Lissa (1811)
The Battle of Lissa was a naval action fought between a British frigate squadron and a substantially larger squadron of French and Venetian frigates and smaller ships on 13 March 1811 during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars...
and wanted to establish a base there with Robertson as its first Governor.
In early 1813 Havannah was detached to the Northern Italian coast where she a five-month campaign on the shipping and shore facilities of Vasto
Vasto
Vasto is a town and comune on the Adriatic coast of the Province of Chieti in southern Abruzzo, Italy. The population is now just over 40,000.-History:According to tradition, the town was founded by Diomedes, the Greek hero...
and its environs. On 6 January 1813 Havannahs boats cut out Gunboat No. 8, armed with one long 24-pounder gun. She had a crew of 35 men under the command of M. Joseph Floreus, Enseigne de Vaisseau. Despite meeting a superior force and coming under small arms fire from the shore, the boats, under Lieutenant Hamley, captured the gunboat and three merchant vessels, their original target, as well. The British had one man killed and two men wounded in the operation. In May 1821, prize money for the gunboat, the three merchant vessels St Antonio No. 1, St Antonio No. 2 and St Antonio No. 3 was awarded, as well as prize money for two other vessels taken that day, the Madona del Rosario and settee the settee Euphemia. On 14 January Havannah and capture two small trabacolos.
Three weeks later later, on 7 February, she destroyed four gunboats at Manfredonia
Manfredonia
Manfredonia is a town and comune of Puglia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is 35 kilometres northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and giving its name to the gulf to the east of it...
. In numerous actions, Havannah seized dozens of ships and destroyed coastal batteries. For instance, on 22 March 1813 the ship's boats captured one trabaccolo
Trabaccolo
The Trabaccoló, Trabaccalo, or Trabakul, is a type of Adriatic Sea sailing coaster. The name comes from the word trabacca, which means tent, which in turn recalls the vessel's sails. The trabaccoló was a typical Venetian boat-form that dates back to the first half of the 15th Century, and which...
, armed with three 9-pounder guns and destroyed another, at Vasto
Vasto
Vasto is a town and comune on the Adriatic coast of the Province of Chieti in southern Abruzzo, Italy. The population is now just over 40,000.-History:According to tradition, the town was founded by Diomedes, the Greek hero...
. Then on 26 March, her boats brought out five armed trabacolos and five feluccas laden with salt that had been run up on the beach near the town of Fortore
Fortore
The Fortore is a river which flows through the provinces of Benevento, Campobasso and Foggia in southern Italy. It has a length of 110 km....
. In both actions the enemy lost at least one man killed, while the British had only two men wounded in all. In May 1821 prize money for ten trabacolos, one parenza, five feluccas, and their cargoes, captured between 22 March and 5 May, was paid.
On 18 July, while off Manfredonia, Havannah, with , attacked a small convoy and captured or destroyed all the vessels. They captured one Neapolitan gunboat armed with one 18-pounder gun, and burnt another. They also destroyed a pinnace
Pinnace (ship's boat)
As a ship's boat the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a "tender" for guiding merchant and war vessels. In modern parlance, pinnace has come to mean a boat associated with some kind of larger vessel, that doesn't fit under the launch or lifeboat definitions...
armed with one 6-pounder gun. Lastly, they captured two trabaccolos armed with three guns each and laden with salt, and destroyed two others of the same strength and cargo.
In November 1813, Havannah was attached to Thomas Fremantle's squadron that blockaded and besieged Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
. She was then detached to take the port of Zara
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
with the assistance of . Cadogan used the ships' guns to establish batteries armed with two 32-pounder carronades, eight 18-pounder guns and seven long 12-pounder guns. He then attacked the city and captured it with the aid of some Austrian troops. In all, they captured 110 guns and 18 howitzers, 350 men, 100 dismounted guns and 12 gunboats. Cadogan was later instructed to hand over all prizes and spoils of war to the Austrians. (This order cost the crews of Havannah and Weazle an estimated ₤300,000 in prize money.) The Emperor of Austria, however, awarded Lieutenant Hamley the Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold for his services at Zara.
On 9 December Havannah and Weazel destroyed 17 gunboats.
On 6 February 1814, Apollo and Havannah were anchored outside of Brindisi while the French frigate Uranie was inside the port, on fire. had chased her into the port some weeks earlier while awaiting the officials of the port, which belonged to the Kingdom of Naples, to respond to the presence of the French vessel. When Apollo appeared on the scene and made signs of being about to enter the port, Uranies captain removed the powder from his ship and set her on fire.
On 15 April 1814, days before the end of the war, Havannah, under the command of (temporary) Captain Edward Sibly, captured the French privateer schooner Grande Isabelle off Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, together with the schooner's prize. The schooner carried four guns and 64 men and had sailed from Corfu on 9 April, before capturing a vessel sailing from Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
to Messina.
On 19 July 1815, Havannah was in company with , , , and Ferret
HMS Nova Scotia (1812)
The American privateer Rapid was captured by and in 1812 and taken into service as the 14-gun gun-brig HMS Nova Scotia. She was renamed HMS Ferret in 1813 and sold in 1820.-Privateer Rapid:...
when they captured the French vessels Fortune, Papillon, Marie Graty, Marie Victorine, Cannoniere, and Printemis.
Peace time service
In 1815 Havannah sailed for North America and in 1816 to the Cape of Good HopeCape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
. By 1819 Havannah was laid up at Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
. From November 1821 she was again in commission and based in the Mediterranean. In 1830 she was in Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
.
In 1845 she was cut down to a 24-gun sixth rate corvette carrying 32-pounder (40cwt) guns. She served on the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
station between 1848 and 1851. She then returned to Britain via Rio de Janeiro. She arrive at Devonport from Portsmouth on 7 December 1851. While approaching Britain, on 2 December she rendered assistance to the French ship Celine. Almost two years later her crew received an award of money for their services.
Fate
In 1860 Havannah was sent to CardiffCardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
to serve as a "ragged school ship". She was sold for breaking up in 1905.