Wikipedia

HMSCurieux(1804)

For other ships with the same name, seeHMS Curieux.

HMSCurieuxwas a Frenchcorvettelaunched in September 1800 atSaint-Maloto a design by François Pestel, and carrying sixteen 6-pounder guns. She was commissioned underCapitaine de frégateJoseph-Marie-Emmanuel Cordier. The British captured her in 1804 in a cutting-out action at Martinique. In her five-year British careerCurieuxcaptured several French privateers and engaged in two notable single-ship actions, also against privateers. In the first she capturedDame Ernouf;in the second, she took heavy casualties in an indecisive action withRevanche.In 1809Curieuxhit a rock; all her crew were saved but they had to set fire to her to prevent her recapture.

A painting byFrancis Sartorius Jr.depicting HMSCurieuxcapturingDame Ernoufon 8 February 1805
History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameCurieux
BuilderEnterprise Ethéart,Saint Malo(Constructeur:François-Timothée Pestel)[1]
Laid downOctober 1799
Launched20 September 1800
Captured4 February 1804
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMSCurieux
Acquired4 February 1804
FateWrecked, 22 September 1809
General characteristics[2]
TypeCorvette
Displacement290 tons (French)
Tons burthen3295⁄94(bm)[a]
Length
Beam28 ft 6 in (8.69 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
Complement
  • French service: 94[1]
  • British service: 67
Armament
  • French service: 16 × 6-pounder guns
  • British service: 8 × 6-pounder guns + 10 × 24-poundercarronades

Design

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Curieuxwas a prototype, and the only vessel of her class. Construction on the subsequentCurieux-class brigsstarted in 1803.[1]

Capture

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Cutting outCurieuxat Martinique on 3 February 1804

On 4 February 1804,HMSCentaursent four boats and 72 men under Lieutenant Robert Carthew Reynolds tocut herout atFort Royalharbour,Martinique.[3]The British suffered nine wounded, two of whom, including Reynolds, later died. The French suffered ten dead and 30 wounded, many mortally. Cordier, wounded, fell into a boat and escaped.[3]The British sentCurieuxunder a flag of truce to Fort Royal to hand the wounded over to their countrymen.

TheRoyal Navytook her into service as HMSCurieux,abrig-sloop.Reynolds commissioned her but he had been severely wounded in the action and though he lingered for a while, died in September.[2]

Reynold's successor wasGeorge Edmund Byron Bettesworth,who had been alieutenantonCentaurand part of the cutting out expedition.Curieux'sfirst lieutenantwas John George Boss who had been amidshipmanonCentaurand also in the cutting out expedition.

In June 1804,Curieuxrecaptured the English brigAlbion,which was carrying a cargo of coal.[4]Then, on 15 July, she captured the FrenchprivateerschoonerElizabethof six guns.[4]That same day she captured the schoonerBetsey,which was sailing in ballast.[4]

In SeptemberCurieuxrecaptured the English brigPrincess Royal,which was carrying government stores.[4]Then in January 1805Curieuxrecaptured an American ship, from St. Domingo, that was carrying coffee. The American had been theprizeof a French privateer.[4]

CurieuxandDame Ernouf

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Then on 8 February 1805,Curieuxchased the French privateerDame Ernouf(orMadame Ernouf) for twelve hours before she able to bring her to action.[4]After forty minutes of hard fightingDame Ernouf,which had a crew almost double in size relative to that ofCurieux,maneuvered to attempt a boarding. Bettesworth anticipated this and put his helm a-starboard, catching his opponent'sjib-boomso that he could rake the French vessel. Unable to fight back,Dame Ernouffstruck.[5]The action costCurieuxfive men killed and four wounded, including Bettesworth, who took a hit in his head from a musket ball.Dame Ernoufhad 30 men killed and 41 wounded. She carried 16 French long 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 120. This was the same armament asCurieuxcarried, but in a smaller vessel. Bettesworth opined that she had fought so gallantly because her captain was also a part-owner.[4]She was 20 days out ofGuadaloupeand had taken one brig, which, however,Nimrodhad recaptured.[4]The British tookDame Ernoufinto service asSeaforth,but she capsized and foundered in a gale on 30 September 1805.[6]There were only two survivors.[7]

On 25 FebruaryCurieux,under Bettesworth, captured a Spanish launch, name unknown, which she took into Tortola.[8][c]

Lieutenant Boss was on leave at the time of the action but later took over as acting commander while Bettesworth recuperated.[10]At Cumana Gut, Boss cut out several schooners and later took a brig fromSt. Eustatia.Curieuxand the schoonerTobagocooperated in capturing two merchantmen lying for protection under the batteries atBarcelona,on the coast ofCaraccas.[11]

View of St John's Harbour, Antigua; the fleet at anchor and the brigCurieuxmaking sail with dispatches for England (12 June 1805)

On 7 July,Curieuxarrived in Plymouth with dispatches fromLord Nelson.[10]On her way, she had spotted AdmiralVilleneuve's Franco-Spanish squadron on its way back to Europe from the West Indies and alerted the Admiralty. Rear-Admiral SirRobert Calder,with 15ships of the line,intercepted Villeneuve on 22 July, but the subsequentBattle of Cape Finisterrewas indecisive, with the British capturing only two enemy ships.

James Johnstonetook command ofCurieuxin July 1805.[2]After refitting she sailed for the Lisbon station. On 25 November 1805Curieuxcaptured the Spanish privateerBrilliano,under the command of Don Joseph Advis, some 13leagues(63 km) west of Cape Selleiro.[12]She was aluggerof five carriage guns and a crew of 35 men.Brilliano,which had been out five days from Port Carrel and two days beforeCureuxcaptured her, had taken the English brigMary,sailing from Lynn to Lisbon with a cargo of coal.Brillianohad also taken the brigNymphe,which had been sailing from Newfoundland with a cargo of fish for Viana.[12]The next dayCurieuxapparently capturedSan Josef el Brilliant.[13][d]

On 5 February 1806, two years after her own capture,Curieuxcaptured the 6-gun privateerBaltidore(aliasFenix) and her crew of 47 men. The capture occurred 27 leagues west of Lisbon after a chase of four hours.Baltidorehad been out of Ferrol one month, during which time she had capturedGood Intent,which had been sailing from Lisbon for London.[14]About a month earlier, on 3 January,Mercuryhad recapturedGood Intent,which had been part of a convoy thatMercuryhad been escorting fromNewfoundlandto Portugal.[15]

CurieuxandRevanche

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In March 1806 John Sheriff took over as captain ofCurieux.On 3 December 1807, offBarbados,Curieux,now armed with eight 6-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades, engaged the 25-gun privateerRevanche,commanded by Captain Vidal.Revanche,which had been the slaverBritish Tar,was the more heavily armed (chiefly English 9-pounders, and one long French 18-pounder upon a traversing carriage on the forecastle) and had a crew of 200 men.Revanchenearly disabledCurieux,while killing Sheriff. Lieutenant Thomas Muir wanted to boardRevanche,but too few crewmen were willing to follow him.[5]The two vessels broke off the action andRevancheescaped.Curieux,whose shrouds and back-stays were shot away, and whose two topmasts and jib-boom had been damaged, was unable to pursue.

In addition to the loss of her captain,Curieuxhad suffered another seven dead and 14 wounded.Revanche,according to a paragraph in theMoniteur,lost two men killed and 13 wounded.Curieux,as soon as her crew had partially repaired her, made sail and anchored the next day inCarlisle Bay, Barbados.A subsequent court martial into why Muir had not taken or destroyed the enemy vessel mildly rebuked Muir for not having hove-to repair his vessel's damage once it became obvious thatCurieuxwas in no condition to overtakeRevanche.[16]

Further service

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In February 1808 Commander Thomas Tucker assumed command, to be succeeded by Commander Andrew Hodge.[2]Lieutenant Henry George Moysey, possibly acting, then took command.[2]Under his commandCurieuxwas engaged in the blockade ofGuadeloupe,where she cut out a privateer fromSt. Anne's Bay, Jamaica.

On 18 February 1809,Latonacaptured the French frigateFelicité.Curieuxshared in the prize money, together with all the other vessels that been associated in the blockade of theSaintes.[17]

Loss

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On 22 September 1809, at about 3:30am,Curieuxstruck a rock off Petit-Terre off theÎles des Saintes.[2][18]The rock was 30 yards (27 m) from the beach in 11 feet (3.4 m) of water.[18]At first light,Hazardcame to her assistance and her guns and stores were removed.[18]Hazardthen winchedCurieuxoff a quarter of a cable but she slipped back and ran directly onto the reef. There she bilged. All her crew was saved but the British burned her to prevent her recapture.[18]Acourt martialboard found Lieutenant John Felton, the officer of the watch, guilty of negligence and dismissed him from the service.[18]Moysey died the next month of yellow fever.[e]

Post script

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On 30 August 1860, thePrince of Waleswas visitingSherbrooke,where he met John Felton, who had emigrated toCanadaafter being dismissed the service. The Prince of Wales exercised his royal prerogative and restored Felton to his erstwhile rank in the Navy.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^This tonnage is not consistent with the recorded dimensions below. The burthen per the dimensions is 33371⁄94.[2]
  2. ^This keel length is not consistent with the burthen above.[2]
  3. ^The prize netted each ordinary seaman onCurieux£10 5s14d.[9]This represented more than six months' wages.
  4. ^This may have been the same vessel as theBrilliano.
  5. ^One ofCurieux's officers at the time was LieutenantProvo Wallis,who went on to establish a record in the Royal Navy for length of service.

Citations

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  1. ^abcWinfield & Roberts (2015),pp. 208–9.
  2. ^abcdefghWinfield (2008),p. 316.
  3. ^ab"No. 15697".The London Gazette.28 April 1804. p. 537.
  4. ^abcdefgh"No. 15794".The London Gazette.2 April 1805. pp. 435–436.
  5. ^abMoore & Macpherson (1926),p. 36.
  6. ^Winfield (2008),p. 348.
  7. ^Grocott (1997),p. 210.
  8. ^"No. 16069".The London Gazette.19 September 1807. p. 1253.
  9. ^"No. 16076".The London Gazette.13 October 1807. p. 1368.
  10. ^abMarshall (1833),p. 31.
  11. ^Marshall (1828),p. 402.
  12. ^ab"No. 15874".The London Gazette.21 December 1805. pp. 1598–1599.
  13. ^"No. 16420".The London Gazette.30 October 1810. p. 1733.
  14. ^"No. 15894".The London Gazette.25 February 1806. p. 262.
  15. ^Naval Chronicle,Vol. 15, p.252.
  16. ^Byrn (1989),p. 87.
  17. ^"No. 16386".The London Gazette.10 July 1810. p. 1028.
  18. ^abcdeGosset (1986),p. 73.
  19. ^New York Times,31 August 1860.

References

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  • Byrn, John D (1989).Crime and punishment in the Royal Navy: discipline on the Leeward Islands Station, 1784-1812(Thesis). Aldershot, Hants, England: Scolar Press.OCLC918065855.
  • Colledge, J.J.Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present.Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987.ISBN0-87021-652-X.
  • Grocott, Terence (1997).Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras.London: Chatham.ISBN1861760302.
  • Gosset, William Patrick (1986).The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900.Mansell.ISBN0-7201-1816-6.
  • Marshall, John(1833)."Boss, John George".Royal Naval Biography.Vol. 4, part 1. London: Longman and company. p. 28–32.
  • Marshall, John(1828)."Campbell, Donald".Royal Naval Biography.Vol. sup, part 2. London: Longman and company. p. 399–413.
  • Moore, Alan Hilary; Macpherson, Arthur George Holdsworth (1926).Sailing ships of war, 1800-1860, including the transition to steam, by Sir Alan Moore bt. With illustrations from engravings, drawings and paintings in the Macpherson collection.Halton & T. Smith.OCLC976662691.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008).British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.Seaforth Publishing.ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
  • Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015).French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates.Seaforth Publishing.ISBN978-1-84832-204-2.
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