HMS Heureux (1800)
Heureux
| |
History | |
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France | |
Name | Heureux |
Fate | Captured, 5 March 1800 |
Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Heureux |
Acquired | by capture, 5 March 1800 |
Commissioned | August 1800 |
Fate | Lost at sea, June 1806 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Type | Brig |
Tons burthen | 59818⁄94 tons (bm) |
Length | 127 ft 8+1⁄2 in (38.9 m) (overall); 102 ft 9 in (31.3 m) (keel) |
Beam | 32 ft 7 in (9.9 m) |
Depth | 16 ft 2 in (4.9 m) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Heureux was a 22-gun French privateer brig that the British captured in 1800. She served with the Royal Navy as the 22-gun post ship HMS Heureux. She captured numerous French and Spanish privateers and merchant vessels in the Caribbean Sea before she was lost at sea in 1806. Her fate remains a mystery to this day.
French privateer
The frigate
She had been out 42 days but had only taken one
Barlow described Heureux as "the most complete flush deck ship I have ever seen, copper fastened, highly finished and of large dimensions". Furthermore, "she will be considered as a most desirable ship for His Majesty's Service."[2]
British service
The
Three months after her arrival, on 28 May, some 80 leagues (390 km) to windward of Barbados, Heureux chased down and captured the 16-gun French sloop Egypte from Guadeloupe. The chase lasted 16 hours while Egypte kept up a running fight for three hours during which she neither inflicted nor suffered any casualties. Bland reported that Egypte was said to be the fastest vessel out of Guadeloupe. She and her crew of 103 men had sailed 13 days earlier but had made no captures.[5]
On 16 August, Heureux was between Martinique and St. Lucia when she saw the brig
One year later, on 10 August 1803, Heureux and Emerald captured the Dutch ship Surinam Planter, which was sailing from Surinam to Amsterdam. Her cargo consisted of 922 hogsheads of sugar, 342 bales of cotton, and 70,000 lb (32,000 kg) of coffee.[7]
On 23 September 1803 Heureux represented the Royal Navy at the capture of the Batavian Republic's colony at Berbice. The British captured the schooner Serpent, as well many arms, troops and the like.[8] The Navy took Serpent into service as HMS Berbice.
Heureux then captured the French privateer and blockade runner Flibustier (or Flebustier) 40 leagues (190 km) from Barbados on 26 February 1804.
Then on 9 December Heureux, now under Captain George Younghusband, captured the Spanish merchant ship San Sebastian, laden with wine.[11] Four days later Heureux captured Santo Christo, which was carrying military stores and merchandise.[11][12] These may have been two of the three Spanish vessels arrived at Barbados on 9 January 1805, prizes to Heureux and HMS Amelia (1796). One was the former Duke of York Packet,[13] which had been captured in 1803.
On 31 May 1805, off
On 28 December Heureux and
On 21 January 1806 Heureux captured Emilie.[16] Then on 15 (or 22) February, Heureux captured the French privateer Bellone after a short chase. Bellone carried fourteen 9-pounder guns and had a crew of 117 men. She had on board $8,000, which was her owner's share of a prize that she had carried into Cayenne. Four days later Heureux captured the French privateer Bocune after an eight-hour chase. Bocune carried three guns and a crew of 60 men.[17]
Bellone and Bocune may have been the vessels that Lloyd's List reported Younghusband had sent into Barbados. The report referred to one privateer of 10 guns and 110 men, and another of three guns and 70 men.[18]
On 8 March Heureux captured the privateer Huron (or Hurone), off Barbados. Huron carried sixteen 18-pounder carronades and two long 9-pounder guns. As Heureux pulled alongside, Huron opened fire but return fire from Heureux soon silenced her. Huron lost her captain, second lieutenant and two other men killed, and seven men wounded; Heureux had no casualties.[15][b]
Heureux took her last prize on 30 March. Agamemnon was 56 miles (90 km) north of Barbados when she saw two strange sails. As she got closer she saw that they were Heureux chasing a schooner. Agamemnon maneuvered to cut off the schooner and both British ships came alongside the prize, with Heureux taking possession. The prize turned out to be the French privateer Dame Ernouf, of sixteen 6-pounder guns, all of which she had thrown overboard during the chase, and one 12-pounder gun. She also had a crew of 115 men. Dame Ernouf was 14 days out of Guadeloupe but had made no captures.[15]
Fate
In March 1806 Captain John Morrison was assigned to replace Younghusband.[1] (Because Edward Berry of Agamemnon wrote the letter reporting the capture of Dame Ernouf, it is not clear whether Morrison replaced Younghusband before or after her capture.)
Heureux was ordered to transfer her position from the West Indies to Halifax, Nova Scotia in the spring of 1806. She failed to arrive in Halifax, and despite a search, she and her crew had disappeared without trace somewhere along the U.S. seaboard.[4] She was presumed lost in June 1806 with all hands, that is, about 155 crew.[19]
Notes
- ^ Winfield attributes the capture to Stag on 19 October 1799, but there is no report in the London Gazette of such a capture, whereas the report below is more consistent with the facts of the capture.[1]
- ^ In January 1815, head money was paid for Emilie, Bellone, and Hurone. A first-class share was worth £285 10s 9½d; a fifth-class share was worth £1 5s 8½d.[16]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Winfield (2008), p. 234.
- ^ a b c d "No. 15241". The London Gazette. 22 March 1800. p. 285.
- ^ James (1837), Vol. 3, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b Grocott (1997), p. 217.
- ^ "No. 15391". The London Gazette. 28 July 1801. p. 931.
- ^ "No. 15420". The London Gazette. 20 October 1801. p. 1283.
- ^ "No. 15669". The London Gazette. 24 January 1804. p. 109.
- ^ "No. 15649". The London Gazette. 26 November 1803. pp. 1655–1659.
- ^ "No. 15697". The London Gazette. 28 April 1804. p. 538.
- ^ "No. 15735". The London Gazette. 8 September 1804. p. 1121.
- ^ a b c "No. 15794". The London Gazette. 2 April 1805. p. 436.
- ^ "No. 162364". The London Gazette. 3 June 1809. p. 813.
- . Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ "No. 15827". The London Gazette. 23 July 1805. p. 954.
- ^ a b c d "No. 15914". The London Gazette. 29 April 1806. pp. 539–540.
- ^ a b "No. 16979". The London Gazette. 28 January 1815. pp. 153–154.
- ^ "No. 15912". The London Gazette. 22 April 1806. p. 511.
- ^ Lloyd's List, No. 4046,[1] -accessed 5 February 2014.
- ^ Gosset (1986), p. 52.
References
- Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793–1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
- Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
- James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. Vol. 3. R. Bentley.
- 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.
External links
- Media related to HMS Heureux (ship, 1800) at Wikimedia Commons