HMS Hesper (1809)
Encyclopedia
HMS Hesper 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...
18-gun ship-sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
of the Cormorant class
Cormorant class ship-sloop
The Cormorant class were built as a 16-gun class of ship-sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 guns were added soon after completion.-Design:...
, launched in 1809 at Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
. Her original builder, Benjamin Tanner, became bankrupt during her construction, so John Cock completed her. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gun sixth rate ship (but without being re-armed); in 1817 she was again re-rated, this time as 26 guns. She served primarily in the Indian Ocean. In 1810 she participated in the Invasion of Ile de France
Invasion of Île de France
The Invasion of Île de France was a complicated but successful amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial British military force was landed by the Royal Navy at Grand Baie on Île de France...
. The next year Hesper participated in the capture of Java, which she followed in 1812 by capturing Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
. She was sold in 1817.
Service
Hesper entered service in August 1809 under Lieutenant George Hoare and he sailed for the Indian OceanIndian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
on 9 October. In October 1810 Commander David Paterson took command.
Hesper was detailed for service with the squadron under Admiral Albemarle Bertie
Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....
engaged in the Invasion of Ile de France
Invasion of Île de France
The Invasion of Île de France was a complicated but successful amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial British military force was landed by the Royal Navy at Grand Baie on Île de France...
. Following the successful invasion, Hesper was at the centre of a dispute between Admiral Bertie and Admiral William O'Bryen Drury
William O'Bryen Drury
Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Drury served as commander of the ship of the line HMS Powerful during the French Revolutionary Wars, during which he was heavily engaged at the Battle of Camperdown, at which a Dutch fleet...
whose commands overlapped. Bertie appointed Lieutenant Edward Lloyd to command Hesper but Drury appointed Barrington Reynolds
Barrington Reynolds
Admiral Sir Barrington Reynolds, GCB , was a senior and long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy who went to sea with his father aged only nine during the French Revolutionary Wars and was captured by the French aged eleven...
. Although Drury died before the dispute was settled, Reynolds was confirmed in command of the brig.
On 5 January 1811, Hesper was one of six ships that shared in the capture of the Mouche. In September 1814 prize money was paid to the officers and crews of the vessels that had been present at the capture of Île de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
Later in 1811, Hesper was attached to the squadron of Admiral Robert Stopford that captured Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
. On 31 August the frigates Nisus, Président
French frigate Président
The Président was a 40-gun frigate of the Gloire Class in the French Navy, built to a 1802 design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. She served with the French Navy from her completion in 1804 until late 1806 when the Royal Navy captured her...
, and Phoebe
HMS Phoebe (1795)
HMS Phoebe was a 36-gun fifth rate of the British Royal Navy. She had a career of almost twenty years and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
, and Hesper were detached to take the seaport of Cheribon. Reynolds received a promotion to Post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
, confirmed the next year, for his role. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java" to all remaining survivors of the campaign.
In February 1812 command passed to Charles Thomas Thurston, who was blown by a storm to Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, which had been out on contact with Europe for two years. Thurston was able to persuade the Dutch garrison there to surrender and captured the island without fighting. Thurston was later invalided home and in October 1812 command passed to Commander Henry Collier, and then Commander Joseph Prior.
In October Hesper was in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, delivering despatches to Bushire for the British ambassador at Teheran. She then visited Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
. Captain Charles Biddulph replaced Prior in August 1812 and served until 22 April 1815 when he died. Before he died 22 May 1815, aged 29, he charted the four Biddulph's Islands (or Biddulph Group), which lie on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf.
Hesper was without a captain for a while and then in September Commander Michael M? or Commander Robert Campbell was his replacement.
See also
- William BlandWilliam BlandDr. William Bland was a transported convict, medical practitioner and surgeon, politician, farmer and inventor in colonial New South Wales, Australia.-Early life:...
was Hespers surgeon while she was at Bombay, India. He became involved in a wardroom argument with Robert Case the purser. In the duel, which took place on 7 April 1813, Bland killed Case. - Captain Robert Campbell was also the dear cousin to Thomas Campbell the poet.