HMS Speedy (1782)
HMS Speedy falling in with the wreck of HMS Queen Charlotte, 21 March 1800
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History | |
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Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Speedy |
Ordered | 23 March 1781 |
Builder | Thomas King, Dover, Kent |
Cost | £4,200.7s.3d |
Laid down | June 1781 |
Launched | 29 June 1782 |
Completed | By 25 October 1782 |
Captured | By the French on 9 June 1794 |
France | |
Name | Speedy |
Acquired | 9 June 1794 |
Captured | 25 March 1795, by the Royal Navy |
Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Speedy |
Acquired | Retaken on 25 March 1795 |
Captured | By the French on 3 July 1801 |
France | |
Name | Saint Paul |
Acquired | 3 July 1801 |
Out of service | Donated to the Papal Navy in December 1802 |
Papal States | |
Name | San Paolo |
Acquired | December 1802 |
Fate | Struck c.1806 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | 14-gun Speedy-class brig |
Tons burthen | 20721⁄94 (bm) |
Length |
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Beam | 25 ft 9 in (7.8 m) |
Depth of hold | 10 ft 10 in (3.3 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | brig |
Complement | 90 |
Armament | 14 × 4-pounder guns + 12 × 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns |
HMS Speedy was a 14-gun
Built at
She was soon retaken, and re-entered service under Hugh Downman, who captured a number of privateers between 1795 and 1799 and fought off an attack by the large French privateer Papillon on 3 February 1798. His successor, Jahleel Brenton, fought a number of actions against Spanish forces off Gibraltar. Her last captain, Lord Cochrane, forced the surrender of the much larger Spanish frigate El Gamo. A powerful French squadron captured her again in 1801 and Napoleon donated her to the Papal Navy the following year. She spent five years with the Papal Navy under the name San Paolo; she was struck around 1806.
Design and construction
Speedy was one of two
Early career
Speedy was commissioned under Commander Josias Rogers in May 1783 and was assigned to serve in the North Sea, operating out of the Humber estuary.[1][a] After four years on this station she was paid off (placed in reserve) in January 1787 and began a refit at Woolwich in April that year. This work was completed by July at a cost of £1,801, and she was recommissioned in May that year under Commander John Maude, still on the Humber station.[1]
From November 1790 she was under Commander Richard Lane, who was her captain until she was paid off in October 1791. Speedy then underwent another refit, this time at Deptford between June and December 1792, at a cost of £3,000, and was recommissioned in November 1792 under Commander Charles Cunningham.[1]
French Revolutionary Wars
Cunningham had previously been serving in the
Cunningham was replaced by Commander
Commander
Recapture
Speedy spent only a brief time sailing under the French flag. On 25 March 1795 her captain mistook Captain Thomas Fremantle's Inconstant for a French ship and she was recaptured and taken back into British service.[1]
In early March the following year, Speedy, under the command of Thomas Elphinstone, joined a squadron cruising off Oneglia, Italy, under Commodore Horatio Nelson, consisting of the 64-gun ships HMS Agamemnon and HMS Diadem, the 32-gun frigates HMS Meleager and HMS Blanche and the ship-sloop HMS Peterel.[11] On 25 April the squadron steered for Laöna bay, the commodore having received intelligence that a large convoy, laden with stores for the French army, had anchored off the town of Finale. When the squadron arrived, however, they found only four vessels moored under the guns of some batteries. The shore batteries opened fire on Peterel as she led the boats of the squadron to the attack. Despite the fire, the British were able to capture the four vessels and suffered only three men wounded.[11]
In an action on 31 May the squadron chased the French ketch Genie, a gunboat of one gun, and five merchant ships, which took refuge near the guns of a shore battery. At 3p.m. Agamemnon, Blanche, Peterel and Speedy approached them and anchored in 4 fathoms (7.3 m) of water.[11] The four British ships fired their cannons, which disabled the shore battery, and then sent in several boats under heavy fire from the guns of Genie and the gunboat; the British successfully boarded and captured both ships. In the meantime, the merchant ships had beached themselves to avoid capture. Under heavy musket fire from the beach, the British captured and re-floated the four merchant vessels, and destroyed one. Among the British, one man was killed and three were wounded in the operation.[11]
Downman and Brenton
Elphinstone was succeeded in August 1797 by Commander Hugh Downman, who made several cruises with Speedy.
During his time in command of Speedy, Downman captured five privateers, altogether mounting 17 guns and 28 swivels, and carrying 162 men.[12]
These five were:
- Domine Lucas, captured 1 August;
- Palma, captured 13 September;
- Pilgrim (Peregrino), captured 21 December;
- Virgen de los Remedios (alias Olivia), captured 1 January 1798; and,
- San Jose (San José; alias Garalin), captured 15 March.
Head money was finally paid in June 1829.[c]
On 3 February 1798 Speedy encountered the large privateer Papillon, mounting 18 guns and carrying 160 men, while sailing off Vigo. Papillon attacked Speedy, which had a reduced crew; her master Mr Marshall and 12 men were aboard a Spanish prize Speedy had taken earlier.[12] The two ships fought each other for two days; by the second day Downman had exhausted his supply of shot, and resorted to firing nails and pieces of iron hoop at his opponent.[12] Having observed his captain's predicament, Marshall secured the Spanish crew below deck and took the prize crew off in a small boat to go to Downman's assistance.[12] After a fierce fight Speedy succeeded in driving off Papillon; Speedy suffered losses of five killed and four wounded.[12] Downman then recaptured his prize and returned to Lisbon to carry out repairs.[12][14]
For his efforts in protecting British trade out of
Downman was succeeded in January of the following year by Commander Jahleel Brenton, who was based at Gibraltar.[15] While sailing off Gibraltar in company with the British privateer Defender on 9 August 1799, Brenton came across three small Spanish warships, mounting twenty 6-pounders in total. The Spanish ran into a small sandy bay and anchored in a line so as to bring their guns to bear simultaneously on the British ships. Speedy and Defender sailed up and down for two hours firing broadsides, but without much effect.[15] Defender only had 22 men on board and decided to sail further out to sea to meet one of her boats. Brenton thought the effort of keeping under sail was aiding the enemy, and anchored Speedy within 30 yards (27 m) of the middle ship.[16] The two exchanged a fierce cannonade for three-quarters of an hour, after which the Spanish abandoned their ships and made for the shore.[15] Two of the ships ran ashore and the third was immediately captured.[17] Speedy launched her boats to recover the other two, coming under musket fire from the Spanish on the hillside as they did so. The British got both vessels off and took them into Gibraltar, along with two men wounded during the operation.[17]
On 3 October Speedy, while sailing once again off Gibraltar, spotted ten small ships coming out of Algeciras, gunboats apparently attempting to attack a British convoy that was then passing.[17] Brenton identified the ships as merchantmen, attempting to evade the British at Gibraltar in the bad weather. On Speedy's approach, they scattered, four sheltering under a fort. Speedy approached and fired on them, causing their crews to abandon their ships.[18] They were driven ashore by the wind, and despite sending boats out, it was impossible to get them off, so they were left to be reduced to wrecks.[18] Three days later, Speedy was standing off Europa Point when twelve gunboats were sighted coming out of Algeciras to attack two merchant ships making their way past Gibraltar. One, the Unity, was carrying wine and spirits for the fleet.[18] Their combined firepower far outweighed that of Speedy, but Brenton turned his ship towards them, covering the escape of one of the merchantmen with his fire.[18] The gunboats were attempting to catch the Unity when Brenton took his ship through the flotilla, close enough to break many of their oars, maintaining a constant fire from his guns and with every spare member of the crew firing muskets.[18] The Spanish flotilla broke and fled. Speedy suffered two men killed and one wounded, and sustained considerable damage to her rigging and below her waterline.[18] She was unable to return to Gibraltar in the rising wind, and was forced to run along the coast to Tétouan Bay, where her shot-holes were plugged to allow her to make her way back.[19] During the engagement with the gunboats, the guns in the fortress of Gibraltar had not fired in support of Speedy. When Brenton asked why, the Governor of Gibraltar, General Charles O'Hara, replied that he had arranged with the Governor of Algeciras for the guns never to be fired at the gunboats so as not to annoy the inhabitants of the town.[19]
Cochrane
Brenton was promoted to post-captain, and in March 1800 Commander Lord Cochrane took over.[1] Cochrane was less than impressed with his new command, declaring that Speedy was "little more than a burlesque of a vessel of war".[20] His cabin had only 5 feet (1.5 m) of headroom; when Cochrane wished to shave he had to open a skylight and set his shaving equipment out on the quarterdeck.[21] On another occasion he walked the quarterdeck with Speedy's entire broadside, seven pieces of four-pounder shot, in his pockets.[21] In an attempt to increase the firepower of his new command he asked for and was given two 12-pounder long guns to use as bow and stern chasers, but the scantlings could not support them and they had to be removed.[21] He then requested his 4-pounders be upgraded to 6-pounders, but his gunports were not big enough.[21] He had better luck with his mast, taking a spar from HMS Genereux that was considered too large for Speedy, but which Cochrane felt improved her speed.[21]
In early May Cochrane was escorting a convoy from
Cochrane prepared for an encounter with this Spanish vessel by painting Speedy to resemble the Danish brig Clomer, then in the Mediterranean. He also appointed a Dane as quartermaster and found him a Danish naval officer's uniform.[24] While cruising off Alicante on 21 December, Speedy encountered an enemy frigate, but tricked her into thinking she was a neutral vessel.[25] Cochrane again used this false flag technique to his advantage; on 22 January he was sailing with a convoy of Danish merchantmen under a Danish flag, pretending to escort them. When a 10-gun French ship and 8-gun Spanish brig approached, Cochrane hoisted British colours and attacked, capturing both of them.[26]
Then on 24 February Cochrane captured the French naval brig Caroline, of four guns, which had been carrying ordnance stores from Genoa to Alexandria.[27][d]
Speedy and Gamo
Speedy was cruising off
Seeing their disadvantage the Spanish second-in-command assembled a boarding party, at which Cochrane drew off and pounded their massed ranks with shot and musket fire before drawing in close again. After having their attempts to board frustrated three times, the Spanish returned to their guns.
Later actions and capture
Cochrane returned to the coast off Barcelona in June 1801, and joined the 16-gun HMS Kangaroo in attacking a Spanish convoy of 12 merchant ships and five armed vessels anchored under the guns of a large tower.[37] After a sharp action fought between the afternoon of 9 June and the morning of 10 June, the two ships sank or drove ashore all of the ships with the exception of three brigs, which they captured.[37] Three weeks later he was cruising off Alicante when he encountered several merchant vessels, which ran ashore. Rather than wasting time trying to get them off, he burnt them, but in doing so attracted the attention of a foe vastly more powerful than the Gamo.[38]
A formidable French squadron under the command of Rear-Admiral
French and Papal career
The French took Speedy to Toulon with the fleet, where she became a pawn in
HMS Sophie
Some of Speedy's later exploits under Cochrane were used in the plot of the novel Master and Commander, the first of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series, though the ship described by O'Brian matches only Speedy's spar dimensions and armament, and is named HMS Sophie.[46][47] Cochrane is replaced in the book by the fictional Jack Aubrey, who repeats many of Cochrane's real-life exploits including the defence of a convoy and the recapture of one of its merchants from a privateer, and the capture of a large Spanish frigate, based on the Gamo, but renamed Cacafuego for the novel.[48]
See also
Notes
- Knight Commander of the Bath.[10]
- d, £42 11s 7+1⁄4d, £28 17s 11+1⁄4d, £53 3s 5+3⁄4d, and £65 7s 11+1⁄2d. The pool for the claimants of the fifth class, comprising able and ordinary seamen, landsmen, and boys, was £26 7s 3d, £28 7s 9d, £15 5s 3+1⁄2d, £35 9s 8+1⁄2d, and £43 11s 11+1⁄2d.[13]
- ^ French records report that Caroline was a biscayenne or trincadour commissioned at Lorient in June 1798, of only six tons (French), and a crew of 24 men. She originally was armed with one 36-pounder obusier. She had been sent from Egypt with despatches and was captured in the Bay of Tunis.[28]
- ^ This consisted of the 80-gun ships Formidable and Indomptable, the 74-gun Desaix, and the 40-gun Muiron.[38]
- ^ The court-martial was held aboard the 80-gun HMS Pompee on 18 July 1801. The President of the Court was Captain Charles Stirling, of Pompee, with Captain Richard Goodwin Keats of HMS Superb, Captain Samuel Hood of HMS Venerable, Captain Aiskew Hollis of HMS Thames and Captain Jahleel Brenton, former captain of Speedy, now commanding HMS Caesar.[42]
- ^ San Paulo was one of two vessels that Napoleon gave to the Papal Navy at the same time. The other was the brand-new brig Colibri, which the French had renamed Saint Pierre.[45]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Winfield (2007), pp. 318–319.
- ^ a b Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 328.
- ^ Lavery 1989, p. 98
- ^ a b Annual Biography and Obituary. p. 113.
- ^ a b c Annual Biography and Obituary. p. 114.
- ^ James. The Naval History of Great Britain. p. 88.
- ^ a b Ralfe. The Naval Biography of Great Britain. p. 259.
- ^ a b c Ralfe. The Naval Biography of Great Britain. p. 260.
- ^ Ralfe. The Naval Biography of Great Britain. p. 387.
- ^ a b c Ralfe. The Naval Biography of Great Britain. p. 388.
- ^ a b c d James. The Naval History of Great Britain. p. 309.
- ^ a b c d e f g The Gentleman's Magazine. p. 220.
- ^ "No. 18582". The London Gazette. 5 June 1829. p. 1036.
- ^ a b Marshall. Royal Naval Biography. p. 190.
- ^ a b c Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 252.
- ^ James. The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. 1. p. 339.
- ^ a b c Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 253.
- ^ a b c d e f Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 254.
- ^ a b Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 255.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 44.
- ^ a b c d e Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 242.
- ^ a b Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 54.
- ^ a b Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 243.
- ^ Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 244.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 56.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 57.
- ^ "No. 15428". The London Gazette. 17 November 1801. p. 1385.
- ^ Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 297.
- ^ Adkins. The War for all the Oceans. p. XXII.
- ^ a b Adkins. The War for all the Oceans. p. XXIII.
- ^ Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 245.
- ^ a b c Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 246.
- ^ Adkins. The War for all the Oceans. p. XXIV.
- ^ a b c d Adkins. The War for all the Oceans. p. XXV.
- ^ Henderson. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs. p. 247.
- ^ "No. 20939". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. p. 240.
- ^ a b Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 61.
- ^ a b c Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 62.
- ^ a b c Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 63.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 64.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 67.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 66.
- ^ Cordingly. Cochrane the Dauntless. p. 65.
- ^ Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 211.
- ^ Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 210.
- ^ Parrill. Nelson's Navy in Fiction and Film. p. 166.
- ^ Hunt. The Marine Art of Geoff Hunt. p. 107.
- ^ Parrill. Nelson's Navy in Fiction and Film. pp. 167–169.
References
- The Annual Biography and Obituary 1835. Vol. 19. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1835. OCLC 445825517.
- Adkins, Roy; Adkins, Lesley (2007). The War for all the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo. London: Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11916-8.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7475-8545-9.
- OCLC 320661001.
- Henderson, James (2005) [1975]. Frigates, Sloops and Brigs: An Account of the Lesser Warships of the Wars from 1793 to 1815. Barnsley: Pen and Watch. ISBN 1-84415-301-0.
- Hunt, Geoff (2004). The Marine Art of Geoff Hunt. London: Anova Books. ISBN 0-85177-971-9.
- OCLC 537980103.
- Lavery, Brian (1989). Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organization. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 20997619.
- Marshall, John (1824). Royal Naval Biography: Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-officers, Superannuated Rear-admirals, Retired-captains, Post-captains, and Commanders, Whose Names Appeared on the Admiralty List of Sea Officers at the Commencement of the Present Year, Or who Have Since Been Promoted, Illustrated by a Series of Historical and Explanatory Notes ... with Copious Addenda. Vol. 2. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. OCLC 61623646.
- Parrill, Sue (2009). Nelson's Navy in Fiction and Film: Depictions of British Sea Power in the Napoleonic Era. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3855-6.
- Ralfe, James (1828). The Naval Biography of Great Britain: Consisting of Historical Memoirs of Those Officers of the British Navy who Distinguished Themselves During the Reign of His Majesty George III. Vol. 3 & 4. London: Whitmore & Fenn. OCLC 495222.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.
- 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.