HMS Maria (1805)
Encyclopedia
HMS Maria (or Marie) was the French privateer schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Constance (or Constanza) that the 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...

 captured in 1805 and that foundered in 1807. During her brief career in the Leeward Islands she participated in the capture of five small prizes.

Capture

On 21 June 1805, Circe
HMS Circe (1804)
HMS Circe was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate Thames-class frigate, built by Master Shipwright Joseph Tucker at Plymouth Dockyard, and launched in 1804. She served in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars, and participated in an action and a campaign for which in 1847 in the Admiralty authorized...

 captured the privateer Constance in the Leeward Islands. Constance was armed with 10 guns and had a crew of 75 men. She was just out of Guadeloupe. However, she may have been the same Constance that Circe had earlier captured off the coast of Spain.

Service

The Admiralty registered her on 10 November and purchased her on 2 December. The Admiralty named her Maria and she was commissioned under Lieutenant John Henderson.

On 9 June Maria was in company with a small squadron that also included , , Circe, , and when they captured the brig Hiram.

On 26 July 1807, His Majesty's schooners Maria and captured the schooner Atlantic.

On 2 August, Maria was in company with the sloop when they captured the schooner Governor MKean.

On 6 August, Maria was in company with , , and the schooner when they captured the Hercules.

On 4 October, Maria was in company with Jason, Hart, and Pert when they captured the schooner Rebecca.

However the prize money for these vessels arrived in 1809, too late to be of much use to Marias crew.

Fate

Maria foundered during a hurricane among the Leeward Islands on 16 October 1807. There were no survivors.
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