HMS Telegraph (1813)
Encyclopedia
HMS Telegraph was built in 1812 in New York as the American letter of marque
Vengeance. The Royal Navy
captured her in 1813 and took her into service as the 14-gun schooner or gunbrig Telegraph. Over a period of only about two years she took numerous small prizes and caused the destruction of a French 16-gun brig. A gale caused the wrecking of Telegraph in 1817.
18-pounder frigate
Phoebe
captured the Vengeance. Vengeance was an American letter of marquee schooner of 180 tons and a 15-man crew that had been sailing from New York to Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton, coffee, sugar and indigo
. Vengeance arrived in Plymouth on 8 January. She was closely followed by Hunter, Judathau Upton, master, an American privateer schooner that Phoebe had also captured. Hunter had been armed with 14 guns but she thrown 12 overboard during the chase. She had a crew of 73 men.
s and had a crew of 60 men.
On 12 August 1813 she captured the American schooner Ellen & Emeline after a chase of 44 hours that brought the vessels to within 10 miles of Santander. The Ellen & Emeline carried a cargo of silk for New York and was armed with a single 12-pounder gun on a pivot. She was only three hours out of Nantes when Telegraph first sighted her. Then on 23 August Telegraph detained and sent in the American schooner Allen & Adelaide, Booth, master, also from Nantes.
On 12 September Telegraph cut out of Bordeaux four small French vessels:
Ten days later she sailed with a convoy of transports for St. Sebastian. On 7 October, she arrived with dispatches for Sir George Collier in on the north coast of Spain.
. Flibustier had been in St Jean de Luz sheltering where shore batteries could protect her when she sought to escape because of the approach of Wellington's
army. She started out during a "dark and stormy night", but Telegraph immediately pursued her. After an action lasting three-quarters of an hour, the French saw and coming up to join the engagement. Flibustiers crew set her on fire and escaped ashore. Lieutenant Scriven sent boats to try to save her, but they were unsuccessful and she blew up. Papers found on board showed Lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Jacques-Léonore Daniel had been the commander. She had been armed with sixteen French 24-pounder carronades, two 9-pounder guns, a brass howitzer and four brass 3-pounder guns. There had been 160 men on board and Scriven reported that from what he saw, the French losses must have been considerable; Telegraph had no casualties. Scriven believed that Flibustier was bound for Santona to relieve the garrison there as her cargo consisted of treasure, arms, ammunition, and salt provisions. He also thought that some of the men who had been aboard her were officers and soldiers for the garrison. Both armies witnessed the British victory, with the allied army giving three cheers. As a reward for his success Scriven received a promotion to Commander and Telegraph was re-rated as a sloop of war.
Hercules, of 134 tons and five men, bound from Oleron to Nantes on 29 December. The next day she took the French chasse-marée Felicitee, of 60 tons and one man, bound from Bordeaux to Nantes. These may be the vessels described as the chasse-marée that on 4 January 1814 arrived in Plymouth, and the ketch that arrived in Falmouth, both prizes that Telegraph had taken.
On 27 February 1814 Telegraph captured the French chasse maree Clemence. Then on 10 March she captured the French dogger
(or galliot) North Star from Île de Ré
, of 80 tons and five men, also bound for Nantes. The next day Helicon arrived in the Isles of Scilly
towing a chasse-marée that Telegraph had taken. The North Star may have been the French galiot Neidsteerm that Telegraph had sent into Plymouth on 5 April.
Telegraph then sailed to the Halifax
station. On 3 November Telegraph captured and destroyed the sloop Alert, of 25 tons and a crew of three. Three days later Telegraph was in company with and when they recaptured the brig Recovery. The next day Telegraph captured the sloop Four Brothers of 20 tons and two men. That same day she destroyed the sloop John of two men and 30 tons and the schooner Ann of three men and 32 tons. Later that month Telegraph took the schooner Mary from Philadelphia for Havana and sent her to Bermuda. Bermuda then reported the arrivals of the brig Amy, with flour from Philadelphia, prize to Telegraph, and Mary, prize to the Spencer
and Telegraph. Telegraph had captured both on 25 November. Amy was of 84 tons and had a crew of eight. Mary was of 110 tons and had a crew of seven.
On 16 November 1814, her boats and those of Spencer
ran the famous American privateer Syren ashore under Cape May
, where her crew destroyed her. Syren, a 7-gun schooner out of Baltimore and under the command of J.D. Daniels, had had a successful cruise in which she captured several prizes. One was the Sir John Sherbooke. Another had taken place on 12 July 1814 when Syren captured the Royal Navy's 4-gun schooner Landrail
after a fight of 40 minutes with casualties on both sides.
The next month, on 11 December, Telegraph captured the Rose.
At the end of December, on the 28th, Telegraph captured the Trim, of four men and 40 tons. Then in the new year, on 12 January 1815, Telegraph captured the Attempt of four men and 52 tons. Lastly, five days later, Telegraph captured the schooner William of eight men and 105 tons, near Cape Hatteras
.
In September 1815 Lieutenant Richard Crossman took command of Telegraph. In 1816 Lieutenant Jonathan Little replaced him. On 5 October, Telegraph seized the smuggling vessel Betsey and her cargo of spirits. The Collector of His Majesty's Excise, in Falmouth, also paid bounty-money for the three men who were on Betsey when Telegraph captured her.
, at the entrance of Catwater. The same gale caused the loss of . Telegraphs only fatality was a seaman whom she crushed to death against her side. Several other men were injured. (Another report gives her losses as two dead out of her 50-man crew.) The court martial (on 28 January 1817), attributed the loss to short cables and insufficiently heavy anchors.
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
Vengeance. 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 her in 1813 and took her into service as the 14-gun schooner or gunbrig Telegraph. Over a period of only about two years she took numerous small prizes and caused the destruction of a French 16-gun brig. A gale caused the wrecking of Telegraph in 1817.
Capture of Vengeance
On 1 January 1813, the 36-gun Fifth RateFifth-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:...
18-pounder frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
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...
captured the Vengeance. Vengeance was an American letter of marquee schooner of 180 tons and a 15-man crew that had been sailing from New York to Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton, coffee, sugar and indigo
Indigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...
. Vengeance arrived in Plymouth on 8 January. She was closely followed by Hunter, Judathau Upton, master, an American privateer schooner that Phoebe had also captured. Hunter had been armed with 14 guns but she thrown 12 overboard during the chase. She had a crew of 73 men.
Prize taking
Lieutenant Timothy Scriven commissioned Telegraph at Plymouth. In British service Telegraph was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronadeCarronade
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 had a crew of 60 men.
On 12 August 1813 she captured the American schooner Ellen & Emeline after a chase of 44 hours that brought the vessels to within 10 miles of Santander. The Ellen & Emeline carried a cargo of silk for New York and was armed with a single 12-pounder gun on a pivot. She was only three hours out of Nantes when Telegraph first sighted her. Then on 23 August Telegraph detained and sent in the American schooner Allen & Adelaide, Booth, master, also from Nantes.
On 12 September Telegraph cut out of Bordeaux four small French vessels:
- luggerLuggerA lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
Gustave, of 82 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound for Nantes; - chasse maree Unis Amis, of 54 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound to Nantes;
- lugger Precieux, of 94 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound to Nantes; and
- chasse maree Dunoire, of 68 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound to Brest. On 18 September Telegraph arrived at Falmouth with her four French prizes, laden with brandy, wine and the like. She also destroyed the chasse maree Martha.
Ten days later she sailed with a convoy of transports for St. Sebastian. On 7 October, she arrived with dispatches for Sir George Collier in on the north coast of Spain.
Telegraph vs Flibustier
On 13 October 1813 Telegraph caused the destruction of the French 16-gun brig Flibustier (1810) in the mouth of the AdourAdour
The Adour is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre , at the Col du Tourmalet, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost as the Adour du Tourmalet. At its final stretch, i.e...
. Flibustier had been in St Jean de Luz sheltering where shore batteries could protect her when she sought to escape because of the approach of Wellington's
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
army. She started out during a "dark and stormy night", but Telegraph immediately pursued her. After an action lasting three-quarters of an hour, the French saw and coming up to join the engagement. Flibustiers crew set her on fire and escaped ashore. Lieutenant Scriven sent boats to try to save her, but they were unsuccessful and she blew up. Papers found on board showed Lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Jacques-Léonore Daniel had been the commander. She had been armed with sixteen French 24-pounder carronades, two 9-pounder guns, a brass howitzer and four brass 3-pounder guns. There had been 160 men on board and Scriven reported that from what he saw, the French losses must have been considerable; Telegraph had no casualties. Scriven believed that Flibustier was bound for Santona to relieve the garrison there as her cargo consisted of treasure, arms, ammunition, and salt provisions. He also thought that some of the men who had been aboard her were officers and soldiers for the garrison. Both armies witnessed the British victory, with the allied army giving three cheers. As a reward for his success Scriven received a promotion to Commander and Telegraph was re-rated as a sloop of war.
Prize taking again
Telegraph took the French galiotGaliot
Galiots were types of ships from the Age of Sail.In the Mediterranean, galiots were a type of small galley, with one or two masts and about twenty oars, using both sails and oars for propulsion...
Hercules, of 134 tons and five men, bound from Oleron to Nantes on 29 December. The next day she took the French chasse-marée Felicitee, of 60 tons and one man, bound from Bordeaux to Nantes. These may be the vessels described as the chasse-marée that on 4 January 1814 arrived in Plymouth, and the ketch that arrived in Falmouth, both prizes that Telegraph had taken.
On 27 February 1814 Telegraph captured the French chasse maree Clemence. Then on 10 March she captured the French dogger
Dogger (boat)
The dogger was a form of fishing boat, developed during the seventeenth century, that commonly operated in the North Sea. The dogger takes its name from the Dutch word dogger, meaning a fishing vessel operating a trawl...
(or galliot) North Star from Île de Ré
Île de Ré
Île de Ré is an island off the west coast of France near La Rochelle, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....
, of 80 tons and five men, also bound for Nantes. The next day Helicon arrived in the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
towing a chasse-marée that Telegraph had taken. The North Star may have been the French galiot Neidsteerm that Telegraph had sent into Plymouth on 5 April.
Telegraph then sailed to the Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
station. On 3 November Telegraph captured and destroyed the sloop Alert, of 25 tons and a crew of three. Three days later Telegraph was in company with and when they recaptured the brig Recovery. The next day Telegraph captured the sloop Four Brothers of 20 tons and two men. That same day she destroyed the sloop John of two men and 30 tons and the schooner Ann of three men and 32 tons. Later that month Telegraph took the schooner Mary from Philadelphia for Havana and sent her to Bermuda. Bermuda then reported the arrivals of the brig Amy, with flour from Philadelphia, prize to Telegraph, and Mary, prize to the Spencer
HMS Spencer (1800)
HMS Spencer was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 May 1800 at Bucklers Hard. Her designer was the French émigré shipwright Jean-Louis Barrallier.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...
and Telegraph. Telegraph had captured both on 25 November. Amy was of 84 tons and had a crew of eight. Mary was of 110 tons and had a crew of seven.
On 16 November 1814, her boats and those of Spencer
HMS Spencer (1800)
HMS Spencer was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 May 1800 at Bucklers Hard. Her designer was the French émigré shipwright Jean-Louis Barrallier.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...
ran the famous American privateer Syren ashore under Cape May
Cape May
Cape May is a peninsula and island ; the southern tip of the island is the southernmost point of the state of New Jersey, United States. It runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...
, where her crew destroyed her. Syren, a 7-gun schooner out of Baltimore and under the command of J.D. Daniels, had had a successful cruise in which she captured several prizes. One was the Sir John Sherbooke. Another had taken place on 12 July 1814 when Syren captured the Royal Navy's 4-gun schooner Landrail
HMS Landrail (1806)
HMS Landrail was a Cuckoo-class schooner built by Thomas Sutton at Ringmore Teignmouth. Like all her class she carried four 12-pounder carronades and had a crew of 20. She had a relatively uneventful career during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 until 1814 when she was taken in a notable...
after a fight of 40 minutes with casualties on both sides.
The next month, on 11 December, Telegraph captured the Rose.
At the end of December, on the 28th, Telegraph captured the Trim, of four men and 40 tons. Then in the new year, on 12 January 1815, Telegraph captured the Attempt of four men and 52 tons. Lastly, five days later, Telegraph captured the schooner William of eight men and 105 tons, near Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape on the coast of North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the farthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the Atlantic coast of North America...
.
In September 1815 Lieutenant Richard Crossman took command of Telegraph. In 1816 Lieutenant Jonathan Little replaced him. On 5 October, Telegraph seized the smuggling vessel Betsey and her cargo of spirits. The Collector of His Majesty's Excise, in Falmouth, also paid bounty-money for the three men who were on Betsey when Telegraph captured her.
Loss
During the night of 19–20 January 1817 Telegraph was anchored off the Eastern Hoe in Plymouth Sound. A gale came up that parted her cables and wrecked her on the point of Mount BattenMount Batten
Mount Batten is a 24-metre-tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England.After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the Plymouth Development Corporation for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a marina and centre for...
, at the entrance of Catwater. The same gale caused the loss of . Telegraphs only fatality was a seaman whom she crushed to death against her side. Several other men were injured. (Another report gives her losses as two dead out of her 50-man crew.) The court martial (on 28 January 1817), attributed the loss to short cables and insufficiently heavy anchors.