HMS Nimrod (1812)

Commander Nathaniel Mitchel commissioned Nimrod in August 1812. He then sailed her for North America on 22 September.[1] On 4 January 1813 Nimrod was at 25°45′N 56°14′W while sailing from Newfoundland to Bermuda. She had parted from her convoy in bad weather.[3]

On 23 January Nimrod left Barbados with the trade for St Vincents, Grenada, and Jamaica.[4]

On 12 or 15 March 1813, Nimrod captured the American "private ship of war" Defiance off Morant Bay, Jamaica, and sent her into Port Royal, Jamaica. Defiance, of three guns and 80 men, was under the command of a Frenchman.[5][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]

Maidstone, Sylph, and Nimrod captured the brig Victor, of 52½ tons (bm), Swedish lasts, Carl Fred Hallberger, master, on 13 May. She had been sailing from Haiti to New London with 140 hogsheads (hhds) of sugar.[9]

On 17 July Maidstone, with Poictiers and Nimrod in company, captured the American privateer Yorktown, of 20 guns and 140 men, after a four-hour chase. Yorktown, under Captain T. W. Story, had taken 11 prizes before Maidstone captured her. The British sent Yorktown and her crew into Halifax.[10]

Nimrod recaptured the sloop Mary, F. Glawson, master, on 27 July.[9] Mary went into Halifax.[11] Four days later Nimrod recaptured the sloop William & Ann, of 77 tons (bm), W. Eadie, master. William and Mary had been sailing from Scotland to Ireland with a cargo of coals and glass when captured.[9]

On 11 August, Nimrod captured the ship Republican, A. Baupen, master, which was sailing from New York to Port-au-Prince.[12] She was carrying provisions, lumber, tobacco, fruit and dry goods.[9] Nimrod sent her into Halifax.[13]

Poictiers, in company with Maidstone and Nimrod, captured several vessels.

• 13 August: brig Anna, of 125 tons, Diego Martinez, master, sailing from Newhaven to La Guaira.[12][lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
• 18 August: ship Manchester.[12] Manchester was a Falmouth packet brig, R. Elphinstone, master, and represented a recapture.[9] Manchester, of 180 tons (bm) and 16 guns, had been a prize to the American privateer Yorktown.[15][lower-alpha 5] The squadron also recaptured Lavinia, which Yorktown had captured as Lavinia, of Greenock, had been sailing from Newfoundland to Lisbon.[13]

Nimrod and Albion captured the ship Chili, 260 tons, R. Gardner, master, of Nantucket, on 2, or 7 December. Chili was returning from a whaling voyage with 500 barrels of sperm oil. Nimrod put 500 barrels of flour on her, flour that Nimrod had earlier taken out of a sloop.[9] Chili and Nimrod arrived at Halifax on 13 December, reportedly after Nimrod had cut her out of Tarpaulin Bay, now known as Tarpaulin Cove.[17] A later report has Chili carrying 1210 barrels of sperm oil.[18][lower-alpha 6]

On 13 December, Nimrod captured the sloop Manhatton, D. Gladding, master.[9]

Nimrod bombarded the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts on 29 January 1814.[20]

Nimrod's boats destroyed a Swedish brig of unknown name on 31 May in Eastern River, Rhode Island, now known as the Sakonett River.[21]

On 2 June, the schooner USRC Vigilant towed into Newport, Rhode Island, the brig Little Francis. Little Francis had been sailing from St Barts with molasses and sugar when she encountered Nimrod. Nimrod had run Little Francis on shore, and a landing party had set fire to her. However, the crew had refloated her, enabling Vigilant to take her under tow.[22] On 3 June Edmond arrived at Halifax after Nimrod ordered her off as Edmond was sailing from St Bartholomew's to America.[23]

On 4 June, Nimrod captured the brig Francisca De Paula, of 90 tons (bm), Frederica Arenos, master. She had been sailing from Havana to Boston with 145 hhds of molasses.[9] Two days after that, on 6 June, Nimrod captured the brig Herculaneum, of 111 tons, Andrew Smith, master. She had been sailing from Haiti Hayti to Boston or Madeira with 19801 gallons of molasses and 19 hhds of sugar.[9]

Commander George Hilton assumed command on 7 June 1814.

On 13 June, Nimrod bombarded Fairhaven, Massachusetts, after the townspeople refused to surrender some cannons. After exchanging fire with the local militia dug in at Fort Phoenix, Nimrod disengaged and sailed off.[24]

In June Captain Charles Paget, in Superb, received intelligence that two new vessels were lying at Wareham, Massachusetts, at the head of Buzzard's Bay, as well as some older ones. He immediately dispatched Nimrod through Quick's Hole with the boats from Superb and two from Nimrod to destroy them. The boats destroyed 17 vessels (accounting in all for 2522 tons (bm)), and a cotton manufactory that had been recently built at great expense, was full of stores worth some half-a-million dollars, and belonged to a company of 60 Boston merchants. The British then took several locals hostage so that they might withdraw through the narrow waters during daylight without the militia firing on them. The vessels destroyed were:[25]

Between 6 August and 9 October, Nimrod captured 38 schooners and sloops.[26] On 14 September Nimrod captured the schooner Maria, which head been sailing from New Port, Rhode Island, to New York with a cargo of salt, fish and oil, and sent her into Halifax.[9]

Then on 8 December, Nimrod recaptured the brig Lady Prevost, of 146 tons (bm), Alex Strang, master. When the privateer Yankee had captured her, Lady Prevost had been sailing from Lisbon to St. John's, Newfoundland, with a cargo of salt.[9] Lady Prevost arrived at Halifax on 16 December.[27]

On 21 January 1815 Funchal arrived at Bermuda. Nimrod had detained Funchal as she was sailing from New York to Lisbon.[28] However, on 10 February Nimrod was at 33°23′N 20°5′W having been caught in a gale and having had to throw all her guns overboard to stay afloat.[29]

Commander John Macpherson Ferguson commissioned Nimrod and sailed her to the Leith station in August 1815. It had taken some nine months for Nimrod and the other vessels commissioned at Portsmouth for peace service to obtain full crews.[30]

Commander John Gedge replaced Ferguson when Ferguson received promotion to post captain on 1 January 1817. Commander John Dalling replaced Gedge on 7 January 1817. Lieutenant Charles Nelson received promotion to Commander and took command on 25 June 1819. Oh her he captured two smugglers off the coast of Holland.[31]

On 14 August 1820, Nimrod captured the smuggling lugger Mars, which resulted in substantial prize money.[lower-alpha 7] Then on 4 October 1821 Nimrod captured the American schooner Vulture.[lower-alpha 8] Nelson left Nimrod in June 1822.[31]

Commander William Rochfort assumed command on 4 July 1822 on the Leith station. In November he sailed to the Port of Tyne to support the civil authorities who faced a strike by the keelmen against their employers. He was briefly the sole naval officer present.[34] Then Captain John Toup Nicholas arrived in Egeria, and took command of a small squadron consisting of Egeria, Nimrod, and the cutter Swan. Nicholas subdued "a spirit of insubordination among the keelmen." He broke the strike by using the men of his squadron to man the keelboats and move out to the vessels that were waiting for it the coal that had piled up. Nicholas kept up the operation for six weeks. Eventually, Nicholas succeeded in talking with the strikers and agreed to take their complaints to the government himself if the grievances were justified. Shortly thereafter the strikers returned to work.[35] The government, the merchants, and the corporation of Newcastle all thanked him for this service.[36] Also, the local authorities at a public meeting voted a grant to Nimrod's crew a hundred guineas.[34]

Next, Rochfort assumed command of a squadron consisting of two naval and four Revenue vessels engaged in suppressing smuggling on the west coast of Scotland. Then in November 1823 he proceeded on a mission up the river Garonne as far as Pauillac, and "by his firmness and moderation overcame many obstacles thrown in his way by the French authorities."[34]

He subsequently cruised on the Cork station.[1] On 15 April 1825 one of Nimrod's boat upset in Belfast Lough, drowning Lieutenant James Everard and three men.[37]

Rochfort paid-off Nimrod on 13 October 1825. His crew took the opportunity to present him with a sword "as a testimony of their respect and esteem."[34][38] Nimrod then transferred to Cork.[1]

Commander Samuel Sparshott assumed command 13 September 1826.[39]