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HMSHyacinth(1806)

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For other ships with the same name, seeHMS Hyacinth.

Hyacinth
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMSHyacinth
Ordered12 July 1805
BuilderJohn Preston,Great Yarmouth
Laid downNovember 1805
Launched30 August 1806
Completed21 November 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
CommissionedOctober 1806
Out of serviceBroken up December 1820
Honours and
awards		Naval General Service Medalwith the clasp "Malaga 29 May 1812"[1]
General characteristics
Class and type18-gunCormorant-classsloop
Tons burthen42423⁄94(bm)
Length
  • 108 ft 9 in (33.1 m) (overall)
  • 91 ft 1.875 in (27.8 m) (keel)
Beam29 ft 7 in (9.0 m)
Depth of hold9 ft (2.74 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planSloop
Complement121
Armament
  • Upper deck: 16 × 32-poundercarronades;
  • QD:6 × 18-pounder carronades
  • Fc:2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 18-pounder carronades

HMSHyacinthwas an 18-gun ship-sloop of theCormorantclass in theRoyal Navy,launched in 1806 at Great Yarmouth. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gunPost-ship(but without being re-armed). She was again re-rated as 24 guns in 1817.Hyacinthtook part in some notable actions on the coast of Spain, one of which earned qualified in 1817 for the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1820.

Service

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Hyacinthwas commissioned in October 1806 under Commander John Davie.[2]

On 21 April 1807Hyacinthcaptured theFrau Justina.[3]Then on 15 August 1807Hyacinth,under Commander John Davie, captured theZeenymph.[4]That same dayHyacinthwas in company withForresterandFlorawhenFloracaptured the fishing vesselsHoop,NepthunandHoffnung.[5]Nine days laterHyacinthandVestalwere in company withFlorawhenFloracaptured theSt. Sylvester.[6]

Hyacinththen sailed for South America on 15 February 1808. In August 1809, Commander John Carter took command whileHyacinthwas still in South America.[2]She returned to Britain and spent the period May through July 1811 in Portsmouth undergoing maintenance. At some point in 1812 the Admiralty re-ratedHyacinthas apost ship,and CaptainThomas Usshertook command of her.[2]

Attack on theBraveand theNapoleon

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In the spring of 1812Hyacinthreceived the task of stopping several fast vessels that were operating as privateers from Malaga, all under the command of "Barbastro". Unfortunately,Hyacinthwas not fast enough to catch the privateers and although Usher disguised her as a merchantman, this ruse too failed. Usher then assembled a small squadron consisting ofGoshawk,Resoluteand Gunboat No. 16 to attack the privateers in their base.[7]

On the evening of 29 April, Usher sent in his squadron's boats carrying a cutting out party.Hyacinth's gig and pinnace with Usher, Lieutenant Thomas Hastings and 26 men, attacked a battery of fifteen 24-pounder guns. Her barge, with Lieutenant Francis Spilsbury and John Elgar, purser, and 24 men attacked a second battery of four 24-pounder guns opposite the first. Commander Lilburne ofGoshawk,with 40 men in Lieutenant Cull's gunboat, attacked the chief privateer shipBrave(orBraave,aliasSebastiani).[8]The remaining boats, under Lieutenant Keenan, attacked the other privateers.[9]

Usher and his party went in ahead and took possession of their target battery in less than five minutes. He fired a rocket that was the signal for the gunboat and the other boats to come in. Midshipman Pierce and 12 men then boarded and captured theBravedespite facing 33 crew men who had remained aboard after Barbastro and the bulk of his crew had jumped overboard. Lilburne followed the plan by attacking the remaining privateer vessels. To assist the attack, Usher turned the guns in the battery that he had captured around and fired on the castle of Gibralfaro; the British kept up the cannonade until they had exhausted the available ammunition.[9]

When the British sought to withdraw, soldiers from the French 57th. regiment lined the mole, firing their muskets as the prize crews brought out their prizes. The castle too fired at the withdrawing British with its cannons. Then the wind died away, which slowed the withdrawal; it was at this time that Lilburne was mortally wounded. The French fire forced the British to leave behind most of the vessels they had captured. Before they did so, they damaged them as much as they could.[9]

The British were able to bring outBraveandNapoleon(aliasDiaboloten),[8]both of 10 guns.[Note 1]The boarding party also retrieved an eagle that Napoleon had presented to Barbastro and that he had left onBrave.The attack had a heavy cost for the British. The gunboat sank during her return passage to Gibraltar and in all, the British lost 15 men killed and 53 wounded.[9]In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Malaga 29 May 1812" for this action.[Note 2]

Other action on the coast of Granada

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In May 1812,HyacinthandTermagantandBasilisksupported Spanish guerrillas on the coast of Granada, against the French. On 24 May withHyacinthandTermagant,Basilisktook a French privateer of two guns, and a brass cannon. Prize money for the "capture of a brass gun and the destruction of a French privateer, name unknown" was payable in March 1836.[Note 3]

Hyacinthdestroyed the castle atNerjaon 25 May. The British squadron then supported a guerrilla offensive againstAlmunecar.The British destroyed a privateer of two guns and 40 men under the castle. They the fired on the castle, creating breaches in its walls.[11]The French then retreated to Grenada after having spiked the castle's guns, which consisted of two brass 24-pounders, six iron 18-pounders, a 6-pounder, and a howitzer. The French also left behind a number of deserters, Flemish and German draftees, who had long looked for an opportunity to quit their involuntary service.[12]

In June 1812 Captain William Hamillton was appointed to commandHyacinth.When theWar of 1812broke out, the British captured several American ships in the Mediterranean.Hyacinthshared withSan Juan,Sabine,Lavinia,HindostanandTuscanin the AmericandroitsforPhoenix,Margaret,AlleganyandTyger,captured on 8 August 1812 at Gibraltar after the arrival of the news of the outbreak of theWar of 1812.[13][Note 4]

Ten days later,HyacinthandBlossomwere in sight when theletter of marqueSir Alexander Ballcaptured the American shipGrace Ann Green.[15]Nine days after that,HyacinthandArgocaptured theEliza.[16]

Hamillton's temporary successor in November was Captain John Lampen Manley. In January 1813 Alexander Sharpe replaced Manley.[2]

Fate

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Hyacinthremained in the Mediterranean until 1815. Later, in 1817, she sailed to Brazil.[2]Hyacinthwas broken up in December 1820.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^Winfield gives the names of these two vessels asIntrepidoandNapoleone[2]
  2. ^The shift by a month in the date of the action appears to be an error.
  3. ^A first-class share was worth £23 18s 6d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 5s 7½d.[10]
  4. ^In May 1816 there was distribution to the sharing vessels of their portions of two-thirds of the first three American vessels and nine-tenths ofTyger.A first-class share was worth£120 16s0½d;a sixth-class share was worth £1 19s 9¼d.[14]

Citations

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  1. ^"No. 20939".The London Gazette.26 January 1849. p. 246.
  2. ^abcdefgWinfield (2008), p.259.
  3. ^"No. 16609".The London Gazette.2 June 1812. p. 1068.
  4. ^"No. 16179".The London Gazette.3 September 1808. p. 1220.
  5. ^"No. 16721".The London Gazette.17 April 1813. p. 779.
  6. ^"No. 16874".The London Gazette.26 March 1814. p. 661.
  7. ^Brett (1871), p.290.
  8. ^ab"No. 16954".The London Gazette.8 November 1814. p. 2215.
  9. ^abcdMarshall (1827), Supplement, Part 1, pp.345-8.
  10. ^"No. 19362".The London Gazette.4 March 1836. p. 435.
  11. ^James (1837), Vol. 6, pp.63-4.
  12. ^"No. 16619".The London Gazette.30 June 1812. p. 1279.
  13. ^"No. 17133".The London Gazette.4 May 1816. p. 829.
  14. ^"No. 17136".The London Gazette.14 May 1816. p. 911.
  15. ^"No. 17106".The London Gazette.3 February 1816. p. 210.
  16. ^"No. 17081".The London Gazette.18 November 1815. p. 2307.

References

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  • Brett, Edwin John (1871)Brett's illustrated naval history of Great Britain, from the earliest period to the present time: a reliable record of the maritime rise and progress of England.(Publishing Off.)
  • 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. 6. R. Bentley.
  • Marshall, John(1823–1835)."Index".Royal Naval Biography.London: Longman and company.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008).British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.Seaforth.ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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