HMS Venturer (1807)

HMS Venturer was launched at Livorno in 1807 as the French privateer Nouvelle Enterprise. The Royal Navy captured her in 1807 in the West Indies and initially took her into service. It renamed her Theodosia (or Theodocia) in 1808. She served in the Mediterranean until the Navy sold her in 1814. She then became the mercantile Theodosia. She traded between London and Rio de Janeiro and was last listed in 1822.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Venturer and Theodosia (ship).

History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameNouvelle Enterprise
BuilderLivorno
Launched1807
Captured1807
United Kingdom
NameHMS Venturer
Acquired1807 by capture
RenamedHMS Theodosia (1808)
FateSold 1814
United Kingdom
NameTheodosia
Acquired1814 by purchase
FateLast listed in 1822
General characteristics [1][2]
Tons burthen126, or 128, or 129[3] (bm)
Length
  • Overall:72 ft 0 in (21.9 m)
  • Keel:57 ft 0 in (17.4 m)
Beam20 ft 5 in (6.2 m)
Sail planSchooner, later brig
Complement55 (at capture)
Armament1 × 12-pounder gun + 4 carronades (at capture)

Capture

On 27 July 1807, HMS Nimrod captured the French privateer schooner Nouvelle Enterprise some 20 leagues east of Barbados. Nouvelle Enterprise, of Guadeloupe, was armed with a 12-pounder gun and four carronades, and had a crew of 55 men under the command of Captain Francis Penaud.[4][Note 1] The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Venturer, later renamed HMS Theodosia.

Career

She was registered on 19 December 1808 as HMS Theodosia. Lieutenant Thomas Young commissioned her in 1809 for the Mediterranean.[1]

In early September 1812 Theodosia, Lieutenant Younger, reportedly destroyed a privateer of 22 guns near Scio.[6]

Theodosia took two prizes as well, La Pace and Betsey.[7]

She also appeared in some memoirs. Lieutenant Young provided passage to James Silk Buckingham,[8] and to the wife of an anonymous writer.[9]

Theodosia returned to England and was paid off on 10 October 1814.[1]

Disposal: The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the "Theodosia schooner, of 128 tons," lying at Chatham, for sale on 15 December 1814.[10] She sold on that day for £310.[1]

Merchantman

Theodosia, a brig of 129 tons (bm) and Mediterranean origin, entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1815.[3]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1815 M'Gowan Rattenbury London–Rio de Janeiro LR
1820 M'Gowan Rattenbury London–Rio de Janeiro LR

The Theodosia arrived in Table Bay, South Africa ex London and Rio de Janeiro on 18 November 1818 with John BROOKS, a gardener, and his wife on board.[11]

Fate

Theodosia was last listed in 1822.

Notes
  1. A first-class share of the prize money was worth £47 7s 6d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 7s 8¼d.[5]

Citations
  1. Winfield (2008), p. 365.
  2. Demerliac (1999), p. 308, n°2583.
  3. LR (1815), Supple.pages "T", Seq.№T65.
  4. "No. 16125". The London Gazette. 5 March 1808. p. 338.
  5. "No. 16967". The London Gazette. 20 December 1814. p. 2491.
  6. Lloyd's List (LL) 27 October 1812, №1714.
  7. Great Britain, House of Commons (1818) Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 74. (H.M. Stationery Office), Appendix, p.1137.
  8. Buckingham (2011), p. 125.
  9. Anon. (1853), p. 181.
  10. "No. 6959". The London Gazette. 22 November 1814. p. 317.
  11. Philip, Peter. British Residents at the Cape 1795-1819: Biographical records of 4800 Pioneers.

References
  • Anon. (1853). The First Five Years of My Married Life.
  • Buckingham, James Silk (2011) [1855]. Autobiography of James Silk Buckingham: Including His Voyages, Travels, Adventures, Speculations, Successes and Failures. Cambridge University. ISBN 978-0332501758.
  • Demerliac, Alain (1999). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 A 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-906381-24-1.
  • 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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