Mentor (1792 ship)

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History
Great Britain
NameMentor
Launched1792, Wemyss[1][2]
FateLast listed in 1832
General characteristics [3]
Tons burthen
  • Originally: 1937694, or 195,[1] or 200,[2] or 201 (bm)
  • 1819: 273, or 275 (bm)
Sail planSnow
Armament
  • Armed ship: 10 × 4-pounder guns
  • 1806: 4 × 6-pounder guns

Mentor was launched in 1792 at Wemyss. With the out break of war with France in early 1793, the Royal Navy needed smaller vessels to protect convoys from privateers. The Navy employed Mentor as a hired armed vessel, releasing her from her contract at the end of 1801 after the signing of the Treaty of Amiens. She then returned to mercantile service, sailing first to Hamburg and then Oporto. She became a coaster on England's east coast, or a Baltic trader. She was last listed in 1832.

Career[edit]

Mentor's contract with the Admiralty commenced on 24 March 1793.

Mentor was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795, and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands.[4]

On 2 March 1798, the frigate HMS Charon captured the French privateer lugger Alexandrine, of Brest, near Bury Head. The privateer was armed with four swivel guns and one carriage gun, and had a crew of 28 men under the command of Captain Auseline Septan. She was six days out of Morlaix but had not taken any prizes.[5] Mentor and the hired armed luggers Attack and Alarm were in company and shared in the prize money.[6][a]

Mentor's contract as an hired armed ship ended on 13 November 1801.

Mentor first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) and the Register of Shipping (RS) in 1802. Lloyd's Register described her as a snow, but the Register of Shipping described her as a brig.[2][1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1802 H.Christie LR: @ London
RS: Captain
London–Hamburg LR & RS
1804 H.Christie @ London London–Oporto LR
1806 H.Christie "Drnkal & Co." London–Oporto LR
1810 H.Christie
E.Collins
"Drnkal & Co." London–Oporto LR
1810 H.Christie
Turnbull
Drinkall & Co.
Green & Co.
London–Gibraltar
Shields–London
RS; new keel & thorough repair 1810
1812 E.Collins
Noble
"Drnkal & Co." London–Oporto LR
1812 Turnbull Green & Co. Shields–London RS; new keel & thorough repair 1810

Clearly, Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping diverged in 1812.

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1813 J.Noble H.Megary & Co. Plymouth–Swansea LR; good repair 1812
1813 Noble Green & Co. Shields–London RS; new keel & thorough repair 1810
1818 P.Noble
J.Green
H.Megary & Co. Plymouth–Swansea LR; good repair 1812
1818 P.Noble
Green
Green & Co.
J.Dewey
Shields–London RS; new keel & thorough repair 1810, damages repaired 1818

On 27 October 1818, Mentor, of London, Green, master, returned to Newcastle after having run aground. She had run on the stones as she was leaving Newcastle with a cargo of coal and became very leaky. It was expected that she would have to unload.[8]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1819 J.Green H.Megary & Co. London–Newcastle LR; good repair 1812
1819 Green J.Dewey Shields–London RS; new keel & thorough repair 1810, damages repaired 1818
1820 J.Green H.Megary & Co. London–Newcastle LR; good repair 1812
1820 Green J.Dewey Shields–London RS; lengthened & almost rebuilt 1819
1824 W.Green
Atkinson
H.Megary & Co. London–Newcastle LR; lengthened and large repair 1820
1824 Green J.Dewey Shields–London RS; lengthened & almost rebuilt 1819
1825 Atkinson J.Leslie & Co. Hull–Petersburg LR; lengthened and almost rebuilt 1820, and good repair 1822
1825 Atkinson Leslie Leith–Petersburg RS; lengthened & thorough repair 1819
1826 J.Atkinson J.Leslie & Co. Leith–Petersburg LR; lengthened and almost rebuilt 1820
1826 Atkinson Leslie Leith–Petersburg RS; lengthened & thorough repair 1819

On 19 February 1826 Mentor, of Shields, struck the Cork Sand, in the North Sea off the coast of Essex and was abandoned. She subsequently came ashore near Woodbridge, Suffolk. Mentor was later refloated and taken in to Harwich, Essex.[9]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1827 J.Atkinson J.Leslie & Co. Leith–Petersburg LR; lengthened and almost rebuilt 1820
1827 Atkinson
Merton
Leslie
Young
Leith–Petersburg
Newcastle coaster
RS; lengthened & thorough repair 1819, and almost rebuilt 1826
1832 J.Atkinson J.Leslie & Co. Leith–Petersburg LR; lengthened and almost rebuilt 1820
1832 Atkinson
Merton
Leslie
Young
Leith–Petersburg
Newcastle coaster
RS; almost rebuilt 1826 & good repair 1831

Fate[edit]

Mentor was last listed in Lloyd's Register in the 1832 issue. She appeared in the 1833 issue of the Register of Shipping in 1833; that register ceased publication after the 1833 issue.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Alexandrine was a 4-ton cutter or lugger from Cherbourg, commissioned in 1796. She made one cruise in 1796 under Charles Casteleyn with 14 men and 2 swivel guns, and another in late 1797 or early 1798 under Jean Guillemette until HMS Charon captured her.[7]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c RS (1802), "M" supple. pages.
  2. ^ a b c LR (1802), Supple.pages "M", Seq.no.M31.
  3. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 387.
  4. ^ "No. 15407". The London Gazette. 15 September 1801. p. 1145.
  5. ^ "No. 14095". The London Gazette. 3 March 1798. p. 193.
  6. ^ "No. 15278". The London Gazette. 22 July 1800. p. 848.
  7. ^ Demerliac (1999), p. 238, no. 1994.
  8. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5329. 3 November 1818. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005778173.
  9. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (6093). 24 February 1826.

References[edit]

  • Demerliac, Alain (1999). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 à 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381247. OCLC 492783890.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.