HMS Shelburne (1813)
Encyclopedia
HMS Shelburne was the American privateer
schooner
Racer, built in Baltimore
in 1811 and captured by the British
in 1813. She served on the American
coast, capturing the American brig Frolic
. She also captured some merchantmen and was sold in Britain in 1817.
's squadron, consisting of San Domingo
, Marlborough
, Maidstone, Statira, Fantome, Mohawk
and Highflyer
pursued four schooners into the Rappahannock River
in Virginia
. The British sent 17 boats 15 miles upriver before capturing their prey.
One of the schooners, Dolphin, had been on a privateering cruise; consequently she carried 98 men and 12 guns. Under her captain, W.S. Stafford, she fought for some two hours before she struck. In the action the British reported they lost two killed and eleven wounded. American newspapers at first claimed that the British had lost 50 men, later reporting that British losses were two boats sunk with nineteen killed and forty wounded. Stafford placed his losses at six killed and ten wounded.
The British took at least three of the schooners into service. Racer, of 225 tons (bm
), six guns and 36 men, became Shelburne. Lynx became Mosquidobit
. Dolphin
retained her name and became a tender
commanded by a Lieutenant George Hutchinson.Her service career and what became of her at the end of the war is an open question. Lastly, it is not clear what became of Arab, of seven guns and 45 men, which too had put up some resistance.
On 29 April 1813, boats from Dolphin, together with boats from Mohawk, Fantome, Highflyer and Racer, which had not yet been renamed, went up the Chesapeake Bay
to Frenchtown
to destroy five American ships and stores; they also purchased provisions for the squadron from the locals. This took until 3 May 1813 to complete. On the way back, a battery fired on the British from the shore; a landing party destroyed the battery. The Admiralty would later issue the clasp "28 April Boat Service 1813" for the Naval General Service Medal for the action.
, commissioning her under Lieutenant David Hope. They also armed her with ten 12-pounder carronade
s and two 6-pounder guns. During 1813 Shelburne captured at least three merchant vessels.
On 3 Mar 1814 Epervier
and Shelburne sailed with a small convoy for Bermuda
and the West Indies. After the two warships parted ways, Epervier encountered the Peacock
. The subsequent engagement resulted in the capture of Epervier
.
Having left Epervier, Shelburne joined the frigate Orpheus. Together, on 20 Apr 1814, they captured the 18-gun sloop Frolic
. Outnumbered and out-gunned, Frolic beat away to southward, making for the coast of Cuba
. During the six-hour chase, Frolic's men labored to lighten their ship. They cut away the starboard anchor and cast overboard the guns mounted on her port side. Eventually, Hope, seeing Frolic heel and realizing that she was unarmed on her port side, came up prepared to fire a broadside on Frolics unarmed side.
Frolic surrendered to Shelburne as Orpheus approached; by this time the vessels were about 15 miles off Matanzas
. The British took Frolic into service as Florida. She had been armed with two long 18-pounder guns and twenty 32-pounder carronades. The 18-pounder still on her turned out to be of British make and may have come from Macedonian
.
The subsequent court martial acquitted Frolic's commander, Joseph Bainbridge, his officers and his crew, of the loss of his ship.Joseph Bainbridge was the brother of another noted US commander, Commodore William Bainbridge
. Despite the acquittal, J. Bainbridge did not serve at sea again. Hope was promoted to commander in June, but remained with Shelburne.
In October Lieutenant William Hamilton assumed command, while Hope served as an aide to Admiral Alexander Cochrane
in Tonnant. Thereafter, Shelburne served in the blockade of New Orleans and assisted the Creek Indians who were British allies. In 1821 she shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton at the Battle of Lake Borgne
on 14 December 1814.
In February 1815 Shelburne and Anaconda
, which was also a former American privateer, cruised off the Florida
coast north of Havana
.
. In October 1817 she was sold to Mr. Brown for £600.
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
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....
Racer, built in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
in 1811 and captured by the British
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...
in 1813. She served on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
coast, capturing the American brig Frolic
USS Frolic
USS Frolic is a name used more than once by the United States Navy, and may refer to:, a sloop of war in active service during 1814 until captured by the British during the War of 1812...
. She also captured some merchantmen and was sold in Britain in 1817.
Battle of Rappahannock River
On 13 April 1813, Sir John Borlase WarrenJohn 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, consisting of San Domingo
HMS San Domingo (1809)
HMS San Domingo was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 March 1809 at Woolwich.On 13 April 1813, Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron, consisting of his flagship, San Domingo, and , , , , Mohawk, and pursued four schooners into the Rappahannock...
, Marlborough
HMS Marlborough (1807)
HMS Marlborough was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 June 1807 at Deptford. In 1808, she helped escort the Portuguese royal family in its flight from Portugal to Brazil.Marlborough was broken up in 1835....
, Maidstone, Statira, Fantome, Mohawk
USS Viper (1806)
USS Viper – commissioned as USS Ferret – was a brig serving the United States Navy during the early days of the republic. Viper was assigned to enforce the Embargo Act of 1807 along the U.S. East Coast. During the War of 1812, while cruising in the Caribbean, she was captured by the more heavily...
and Highflyer
HMS Highflyer (1813)
HMS Highflyer was originally an American privateer schooner built in 1811. As a privateer she took several British vessels as prizes. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813...
pursued four schooners into the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The British sent 17 boats 15 miles upriver before capturing their prey.
One of the schooners, Dolphin, had been on a privateering cruise; consequently she carried 98 men and 12 guns. Under her captain, W.S. Stafford, she fought for some two hours before she struck. In the action the British reported they lost two killed and eleven wounded. American newspapers at first claimed that the British had lost 50 men, later reporting that British losses were two boats sunk with nineteen killed and forty wounded. Stafford placed his losses at six killed and ten wounded.
The British took at least three of the schooners into service. Racer, of 225 tons (bm
Builder's Old Measurement
Builder's Old Measurement is the method of calculating the size or cargo capacity of a ship used in England from approximately 1720 to 1849. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam...
), six guns and 36 men, became Shelburne. Lynx became Mosquidobit
HMS Mosquidobit (1813)
HMS Mosquidobit was the Chesapeake-built six-gun schooner Lynx that the British Royal Navy captured and took into service in 1813...
. Dolphin
HMS Dolphin (1813)
HMS Dolphin was the 12-gun American privateer schooner Dolphin captured by Admiral John Borlase Warren's squadron on 13 April 1813. She participated in boat actions on 29 April and 5 May 1813 for which the Royal Navy issued a clasp for the Naval General Service Medal...
retained her name and became a tender
Ship's tender
A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
commanded by a Lieutenant George Hutchinson.Her service career and what became of her at the end of the war is an open question. Lastly, it is not clear what became of Arab, of seven guns and 45 men, which too had put up some resistance.
On 29 April 1813, boats from Dolphin, together with boats from Mohawk, Fantome, Highflyer and Racer, which had not yet been renamed, went up the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
to Frenchtown
Frenchtown, Cecil County, Maryland
Frenchtown was a historic settlement on the Elk River in Cecil County, Maryland, United States.Frenchtown was an important link in the north-south travel route during the 18th and 19th centuries. As a depot, it was burned by the British under Rear Admiral George Cockburn on April 29, 1813. The old...
to destroy five American ships and stores; they also purchased provisions for the squadron from the locals. This took until 3 May 1813 to complete. On the way back, a battery fired on the British from the shore; a landing party destroyed the battery. The Admiralty would later issue the clasp "28 April Boat Service 1813" for the Naval General Service Medal for the action.
British service
The Admiralty bought Racer for ₤1,940.11.5d (amended figure) and the British named her for the town of Shelburne, Nova ScotiaShelburne, Nova Scotia
Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Shelburne County.-History:-Settlers:...
, commissioning her under Lieutenant David Hope. They also armed her with ten 12-pounder carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s and two 6-pounder guns. During 1813 Shelburne captured at least three merchant vessels.
- 26 August: recaptured the Eliza.
- 11 October: captured the Margelt.
- 12 October: captured the Fanny.
On 3 Mar 1814 Epervier
HMS Epervier (1812)
HMS Epervier was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy built by Ross at Rochester, England, and launched on 2 December 1812. The USS Peacock captured her in 1814 and took her into service...
and Shelburne sailed with a small convoy for Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and the West Indies. After the two warships parted ways, Epervier encountered the Peacock
USS Peacock (1813)
The first USS Peacock was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.Peacock was authorized by Act of Congress 3 March 1813, laid down 9 July 1813 by Adam & Noah Brown at the New York Navy Yard, and launched 19 September 1813. She served in the War of 1812, capturing twenty ships...
. The subsequent engagement resulted in the capture of Epervier
Capture of HMS Epervier
The capture of HMS Epervier was a naval action fought off the coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral on 28 April 1814, between the ship-rigged sloop of war USS Peacock, commanded by Master Commandant Lewis Warrington, and the Epervier under Commander Richard Wales...
.
Having left Epervier, Shelburne joined the frigate Orpheus. Together, on 20 Apr 1814, they captured the 18-gun sloop Frolic
USS Frolic (1813)
USS Frolic was a sloop-of-war that served in the United States Navy in 1814. The British captured her later that year and she served in the Royal Navy in the Channel and the North Sea until she was broken up in 1819.-Construction:...
. Outnumbered and out-gunned, Frolic beat away to southward, making for the coast of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. During the six-hour chase, Frolic's men labored to lighten their ship. They cut away the starboard anchor and cast overboard the guns mounted on her port side. Eventually, Hope, seeing Frolic heel and realizing that she was unarmed on her port side, came up prepared to fire a broadside on Frolics unarmed side.
Frolic surrendered to Shelburne as Orpheus approached; by this time the vessels were about 15 miles off Matanzas
Matanzas
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...
. The British took Frolic into service as Florida. She had been armed with two long 18-pounder guns and twenty 32-pounder carronades. The 18-pounder still on her turned out to be of British make and may have come from Macedonian
HMS Macedonian
HMS Macedonian was a 38-gun fifth rate in the Royal Navy, later captured by the during the War of 1812. She was built at Woolwich Dockyard, England in 1809, launched 2 June 1810 and commissioned the same month. She was commanded by Captain Lord William Fitzroy...
.
The subsequent court martial acquitted Frolic's commander, Joseph Bainbridge, his officers and his crew, of the loss of his ship.Joseph Bainbridge was the brother of another noted US commander, Commodore William Bainbridge
William Bainbridge
William Bainbridge was a Commodore in the United States Navy, notable for his victory over HMS Java during the War of 1812.-Early life:...
. Despite the acquittal, J. Bainbridge did not serve at sea again. Hope was promoted to commander in June, but remained with Shelburne.
In October Lieutenant William Hamilton assumed command, while Hope served as an aide to Admiral Alexander Cochrane
Alexander Cochrane
Admiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
in Tonnant. Thereafter, Shelburne served in the blockade of New Orleans and assisted the Creek Indians who were British allies. In 1821 she shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton at the Battle of Lake Borgne
Battle of Lake Borgne
The Battle of Lake Borgne was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in the American South theatre of the War of 1812. It occurred on 14 December 1814 on Lake Borgne and was part of the British advance on New Orleans.-Background:...
on 14 December 1814.
In February 1815 Shelburne and Anaconda
HMS Anaconda (1813)
HMS Anaconda was an 18-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. She was cruising as an American privateer until sailors from HMS Sceptre captured her in 1813...
, which was also a former American privateer, cruised off the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
coast north of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
.
Fate
On 22 June 1816 Shelburne arrived at DeptfordDeptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
. In October 1817 she was sold to Mr. Brown for £600.
External links
- Phillips, Michael - Age of Nelson - HMS Shelburnehttp://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=1139