HMS Demerara (1804)
HMS Demerara was the mercantile schooner Anna that the British Royal Navy purchased in 1804. A French privateer captured her that same year and Demerara became the French privateer Hebe. She had an unsuccessful single-ship action in 1806. The Royal Navy recaptured her and she returned to service that year as HMS Anna. She was broken up in 1809.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Anna |
| Fate | Sold 1804 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Demerara |
| Acquired | 1804 by purchase |
| Fate | Captured July 1804 |
 France | |
| Name | Hebe |
| Acquired | 1804 by capture |
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Anna |
| Acquired | 1806 by capture |
| Fate | Broken up 1809 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 106 (bm) |
| Length | 72 ft 8 in (22.1 m) |
| Beam | 18 ft 8 in (5.7 m) |
| Depth of hold | 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
| Complement | 55 |
| Armament |
|
HMS
The Navy appointed Lieutenant Thomas Dutton to command Demerara.[2]
On 14 July 1804 Demerara was cruising off Demerara when at daylight she sighted a ship at anchor. The ship got under weigh and approached Demerara, which attempted to escape what was clearly a well-armed privateer. Within an hour the privateer had caught up with her quarry and started firing small arms and a broadside. Within 10 minutes Demerara had lost one man killed and nine wounded, and Dutton struck. The privateer was Grande Décidée.[3] She was armed with 22 guns and had a crew of 155 men.[2]
Privateer
Lloyd's List of 18 April 1806 reported that a 14-gun privateer had captured Shipley, but that Shipley had been recaptured and had arrived at Barbados.[4] In February Shipley had encountered a French three-masted schooner privateer, the former HMS Demerara. Wilson and Shipley resisted for an hour and three-quarters until after he was severely wounded, as were the mate and the steward, and she had had four men killed. (The French had lost six men killed, including her second captain, and many men wounded.) The French plundered Shipley of her cargo. It was HMS Galatea that recaptured Shipley.[5] On 25 July Shipley Williams & Co., Shipley's owners, presented Wilson with a silver cup as a token of appreciation. The cup's inscription names the French privateer as Hebe.[6]
HMS
It appears that the Royal Navy may have retaken Demerara. The vessel resumed the name Anna on 15 August 1806,[1] i.e., after the above engagement, and after the commissioning of a new Demerara. Anna was broken up in 1809.[1]
Citations
- Winfield (2008), pp. 369–70.
- Marshall (1833), Vol. 4, p.33.
- Hepper (1994), p. 10.
- Lloyd's List №4045.
- Williams (1897), p.402.
- Object ID:PLT0189 "Silver cup presented to Captain John Wilson in 1806."
References
- Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
- Marshall, John (1823–1835). . Royal Naval Biography. London: Longman and company.
- Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.