HMSBiter(1804)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSBiter |
| Ordered | 9 January 1804 |
| Builder | William Wallis, Blackwall |
| Launched | 27 July 1804 |
| Commissioned | 1805 |
| Fate | Wrecked 10 November 1805 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Class and type | Archer-class gun-brig |
| Tons burthen | 17731⁄94(bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 22 ft 6 in (6.9 m) |
| Depth of hold | 9 ft 5 in (2.9 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Brig |
| Complement | 50 |
| Armament | 10 × 18-poundercarronades+ 2 × 12-pounderchase guns |
HMSBiterwas a 12-gunArcher-classgun-brigof theRoyal Navy.She was wrecked in 1805.
Career[edit]
Lieutenant George Thomas Wingate commissionedBiterin June 1804.[1]
On 2 NovemberHMSAddergrounded on Romney Flats, about three miles east of Dungeness Light.[2]She did not break up and on 14 November Captain Bolton ofHMSAimablesentBiterand the bombVesuviusto Romney Roads to attempt to salvageAdder.They were successful in getting her off and she came away under her own sails.[3]
Bitershared withHMSAutumnand the gun-brigsManlyandPincher,in the salvage money forGeorgewhich they retook in February 1805. It was believed thatGeorgehad been sailing from Bristol to London when a French privateer had captured her and taken her into Boulogne, where her cargo was landed.Autumnand the brigs recapturedGeorgeas she was on her way to Calais and they sent her into Dover.[4]
Biterwas part of the squadron under the command of Captain Honyman inHMSLedathat on 24 April captured seven armedschuytsin an action within pistol-shot of the shore batteries on Cap Gris Nez.[5][a]Biterdoes not appear to have taken part in the action, but she did share in the prize money.[6]
Fate[edit]
Biterwas wrecked on 10 November 1805 offÉtaples,on France's north coast. She was on blockade duty when during a dark night she ran aground on a beach. Shortly after daybreak she was able to get herself free, but she had been seen. French troops arrived and opened small arms fire. Shore batteries joined in.Biterreturned fire, but a shell penetrated her deck forward and went out her bottom without exploding. Water rushed in through the hole the shell had left and her crew ran her aground to avoid sinking.[7]
Notes[edit]
- ^A schuyt was a Dutch flat-bottomed sailboat, broad in the beam, with square stern; usually equipped with leeboards to serve for a keel.
Citations[edit]
- ^abWinfield (2008),p. 339.
- ^Naval Chronicle,Vol. 12, p.429.
- ^Grocott (1997),p. 183.
- ^Lloyd's List№4194.
- ^"No. 15800".The London Gazette.23 April 1805. pp. 553–554.
- ^"No. 15945".The London Gazette.12 August 1806. p. 1069.
- ^Hepper (1994),p. 113.
References[edit]
- Grocott, Terence (1997).Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras.London: Chatham.ISBN1861760302.
- Hepper, David J. (1994).British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859.Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot.ISBN0-948864-30-3.
- Winfield, Rif (2008).British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.Seaforth Publishing.ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
