HMS Magnet (1812)

HMS Magnet was an American brig captured in 1812. HMS Magnet served during the War of 1812 as a prison ship at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Royal Navy eventually renamed her Attentive, possibly in 1814 when the Navy acquired Sir Sydney Smith, which it renamed Magnet. Then as Attentive she served as a store ship, still apparently on the Halifax station, before she sailed to Britain in 1816. She was broken up in January 1817.[1]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Magnet and HMS Attentive.

History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Magnet
Acquired1812 by capture
RenamedHMS Attentive (c.1814?)
FateBroken up 1817
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen35864⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 96 ft 6 in (29.4 m) (overall)
  • 84 ft 0 in (25.6 m)
Beam28 ft 4 in (8.6 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Sail planBrig

History

The records on this vessel are sparse, and somewhat contradictory. Winfield states that she was a privateer,[1] but the most comprehensive list of American privateers, that of Emmons, does not list a privateer named Magnet.[2] The records of the Halifax Vice admiralty court for the War of 1812 do list a Magnet. She was a ship of 172 tons (bm), T. Drew, master, that HMS Ringdove captured on 18 July 1812 as Magnet was sailing from Belfast to New York City.[3] She was carrying passengers and a small amount of linens.[4] The records state that Magnet was "Taken into possession for the use of the King's service."[3] However, Magnet's burthen is not consistent with that of HMS Attentive. Curiously, the same Vice admiralty records show that HMS Atalante captured Marquis de Somerlous on 10 July 1812. Marquis de Somerlous was a ship of 359 tons (bm), the only one of that burthen on the Vice admiralty's records. Under the command of T. Moriarty, master, she had been sailing from Civitavecchia to Salem, Massachusetts, with a cargo of brandy, wines, silks, and dry goods when Atalanta captured her.[5] Her name as given in a London Gazette list of British captures was Marquis Somnielos.[4]

Newspaper accounts of Attentive's service exist:[6]

  • 5 July 1815, arrived Halifax, the store ship Attentive, Lt. Stewart, 5 days from Moose Island, Maine.[6]
  • 19 May 1816, arrived Halifax, Lt. Smith, from Bermuda.[6]
  • 25 July 1816, arrived Halifax, from Sydney, N.S.[6]
  • 9 September 1816, departed Halifax, for England, with Gen. Gasselin and family passengers.[6]

Citations
  1. Winfield (2008), p. 402.
  2. Emmons (1853).
  3. Vice-Admiralty Court (1911), p. 136.
  4. "No. 16715". The London Gazette. 27 March 1813. p. 630.
  5. Vice-Admiralty Court (1911), p. 157.
  6. The Naval Database: Attractive (1812), - accessed 11 July 2015.

References
  • Emmons, George Foster (1853). The navy of the United States, from the commencement, 1775 to 1853; with a brief history of each vessel's service and fate ... Comp. by Lieut. George F. Emmons ... under the authority of the Navy Dept. To which is added a list of private armed vessels, fitted out under the American flag ... also a list of the revenue and coast survey vessels, and principal ocean steamers, belonging to citizens of the United States in 1850. Washington: Gideon & Co.
  • Vice-Admiralty Court, Halifax (1911). American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
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