HMS Nonpareil (1808)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Builder | Price, Baltimore |
| Launched | 1801,[1] or 1807[2] |
| Captured | 1808 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Nonpareil |
| Acquired | 1808 by purchase of a prize |
| Fate | Damaged 1812 and sold 1813 |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Tons burthen | 210 (bm) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 23 ft (7.0 m), or 22 ft 10 in (7.0 m)[1] |
| Armament | 12 × 12-pounder carronades |
HMS Nonpareil was launched at Baltimore in 1801 or 1807. The Navy captured her in 1808 and purchased her. Nonpareil captured a French naval brig in a severe action in 1810. The Navy sold Nonpareil in 1813 after a storm damaged her.
Origins and capture[edit]
Sources differ over when Nonpareil was launched, and when she was captured. Two sources state that she was launched in 1801.[1][3]
Some sources state that the British seized Nonpareil when they captured Montevideo in 1807.[3]
Diana detained Nonpareil, Lumley, master, of Baltimore, on 4 February 1808,[2] and sent her into Plymouth.[4] A prize court condemned her as a blockade runner.[3]
[edit]
The Navy purchased Nonpareil and registered her on 7 July 1808.[2] Lieutenant James Dickenson commissioned her in June. On 26 March 1809 he sailed her for the Spanish Coast. Then on 23 June 1810 Dickenson sailed Nonpareil for Newfoundland.[5]
On 10 October 1808 Nonpareil and Snapper went in pursuit of a vessel leaving Corruna suspected of being a French privateer from Martinique. Nonpareil lost her in the night. Nonpareil had arrived on the 9th with a messenger, and was about to return to England, perhaps with despatches.[6]
On 12 October Nonpareil captured the merchantman Belle Coquette.[7] Nonpareil was in company with Snapper.
On 28 February 1809 Nonpareil captured the merchantman Natalie.[8]
On 10 May 1810, Nonpareil took the brig Cannoniere, off the Vilaine. The action took an hour and a quarter before Cannoniere struck. Cannoniere had a crew of 61 men and was armed with three 12-pounder guns and two 24-pounder carronades.[9] The French lost 11 men killed and eight wounded; British casualties were two wounded.[10][Note 1] Lloyd's List reported that Cannoniere had been armed with 32-pounder and three 18–pounder guns, and 10 swivel guns; she had a crew of 70 men.[13]
Lieutenant Thomas Cowper Sherwin commanded Nonpareil from 22 October 1810 in the Channel until 1812.[5]
Nonpareil was one of the 25 naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the detention of Asia on 5 August 1812.[Note 2]
Fate[edit]
A storm in the Tagus on 19 December 1812 damaged Nonpareil.[2] She was among the many vessels wrecked or damaged there.[15] She was sold there in 1813.[2]
The courtmartial on 24 December 1812 absolved Sherwin, his officers, and the crew of Nonpareil of any blame for her loss.[16]
Notes[edit]
- ^ In this case Cannoniere appears to be a description, not a name. The prize money notice refers to her as "Canoniere (or No.176)".[11] If so, she may have been one of the Canonnière No.22 Class of chaloupes-canonnières. No. 176 was built at Bordeaux between July 1803 and February 1804.[12]
- ^ A first-class share was worth £9 10s 10d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 2s 5d.[14]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Bulletin (1960), Issue 219, United States National Museum, p.24.
- ^ a b c d e f Winfield (2008), p. 367.
- ^ a b c Woodman (2012).
- ^ Lloyd's List (LL), 12 February 1808, №4228.
- ^ a b "NMM, vessel ID 372191" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol ii. National Maritime Museum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ "Yesterday, his MAJESTY, in Council, was pleased to further prorogue the Parliament, from Tuesday, the 1st." The Times (London, England), Thursday, Oct 27, 1808; pg. 4; Issue 7503.
- ^ "No. 16484". The London Gazette. 11 May 1811. p. 877.
- ^ "No. 16305". The London Gazette. 10 October 1809. p. 1621.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, Vol.23, p.514.
- ^ "Naval Intelligence" Edinburgh Monthly Magazine and Review, Volume 1 (June 1810), p.153.
- ^ "No. 16579". The London Gazette. 29 February 1812. p. 412.
- ^ Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 284.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4461. 25 May 1810. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735024. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ "No. 17229". The London Gazette. 11 March 1817. p. 614.
- ^ "Marine List". Lloyd's List (4735). 8 January 1813.
- ^ London Chronicle (19 January 1813), p.67.
References[edit]
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.
- Woodman, Richard (2012). The History of the Ship: The Comprehensive story of seafaring from the earliest times to the present day. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781844862108.