HMS Saracen (1804)
Encyclopedia
HMS Saracen 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...
built by Perry, Green & Wells at Blackwall Yard
Blackwall Yard
Blackwall Yard was a shipyard on the Thames at Blackwall, London, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987...
and launched in 1804. She had a relatively short and uneventful career before she was broken up at Chatham in 1812.
Service
Saracen was commissioned in August 1804 under Commander James Prevost for the Irish station. In February 1805 Commander James Prevost took command and by May 1805 she was cruising the Channel.By 3 January 1806 she was with Sir John Borlase Warren
John Borlase Warren
Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet , was an English admiral, politician and diplomat. Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, he was the son and heir of John Borlase Warren of Stapleford and Little Marlow...
's squadron at Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
. Nine days later she sailed to Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
to gain intelligence of Vice Admiral Leissègues
Corentin Urbain Leissègues
Corentin Urbain de Leissegues was a French admiral of the Napoleonic wars, notably protagonist of the Battle of San Domingo.- Biography :...
's squadron. By 28 December she was back at Falmouth.
During the summer of 1807 Saracen was in the Rio Plata
British invasions of the Río de la Plata
The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America . The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of...
with Sir Home Popham
Home Riggs Popham
Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham KCB was a British Royal Naval Commander who saw service during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
's forces. From there she brought home the naval and military dispatches after the surrender of the British forces by General Whitelocke
John Whitelocke
-Military career:Whitelocke entered the army in 1778 and served in Jamaica and in San Domingo. In 1805 he was made a lieutenant-general and inspector-general of recruiting, and in 1807 he was appointed to command an expedition to seize Buenos Aires from the Spanish Empire, which was in disarray due...
on 5 July.
She sailed for the Mediterranean on 15 November and in 1808 was off Cadiz. Saracen brought back to Great Britain a copy of the treaty for the peace of the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
signed on 6 January 1809 with the Ottoman Empire.
On 13 March 1809, Commander Buckland Stirling Bluett took command. (He had received his promotion to Commander in 1804 when as a Lieutenant in Saracen's sister ship, , he had participated in the boat action under her captain, Commander George Nicholas Hardinge, that captured the Dutch brig Atalante.) On 10 May Bluett sailed Saracen for Jamaica.
On 12 October 1810 Saracen took her one prize when she captured the French privateer Caroline off Cuba. Caroline had one gun and a crew of 42 men and had not made any captures.