HMS Tobago (1805)
HMS Tobago was a schooner of unknown origin that the British Royal Navy purchased in 1805. In 1806 a French privateer captured her. The Royal Navy recaptured her in 1809 and took her into service as HMS Vengeur before selling her later that year.
 United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMS Tobago |
| Acquired | 1805 by purchase[1] |
| Fate | Captured October 1806 |
 France | |
| Name | Vengeur |
| Acquired | By capture 1806 |
| Captured | January 1809 |
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Vengeur |
| Acquired | By capture January 1809 |
| Fate | Sold 1809 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 120,[2] or 127 bm |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
| Armament |
|
Career
Lieutenant Donald Campbell was appointed 20 February 1805 to command the schooner that the Royal Navy had purchased and named Tobago.[1] Campbell participated in a successful attack made in company with Curieux on two merchantmen, lying for protection under the batteries at Barcelona, on the coast of Caraccas. Campbell left Tobago in July.[3]
Lieutenant John Salomon (acting) assumed command of Tobago towards the close of 1805. He had commanded the prison ship Amboyna.[lower-alpha 1] Tobago then spent some months sailing between Grenada, Barbados, and Guadeloupe exchanging prisoners of war.[4]
On 6 August Tobago was in company with Jason, Hart, and the schooner Maria when they captured Hercules.[6]
Capture
Before dawn on 18 October 1806 Tobago left Dominica where she had been replenishing her water supplies. Soon after, Salmon sighted a brig, joined by a schooner and a sloop, that all made towards Tobago. Tobago prepared for action, while attempting to steer away from the probably hostile squadron. The enemy closed by 8:30, with the schooner and sloop exchanging fire with Tobago. The French attempted to board, but Tobago repulsed the attempt. She was not able to escape though, and the French schooner was able to get her jib-boom over Tobago's taffrail and rake her with small arms fire. Salmon received a shot in the head and his men took him below decks. Sub-Lieutenant Nichols Gould assumed command and continued the fight for another half-hour but then, with Tobago having lost one man killed and 15 wounded (including Salmon), was forced to strike. Her captor was the French privateer General Ernouf, of 16 guns.[2] Général Ernouf (1805 - 1808), was a Danish 16-gun brig, originally under the command of the notable French privateer captain Alexis Grassin.[7] Tabago sold for 15,300 francs at Guadeloupe.[8]
On 24 June 1807 Salmon received promotion to the rank of Lieutenant after his release and repatriation.[4]
Recapture
On 24 January 1809 Beagle was in the English Channel when she captured Vengeur, of 16 guns and 48 men. Vengeur was in company with Grand Napoleon, which escaped.[lower-alpha 2] Vengeur herself did not surrender until Beagle came alongside,[11] though her captain, M. Bourgnie, was wounded.[12] Vengeur had made no captures.[13] Vengeur was the former Tobago.[1][lower-alpha 3]
Disposal
The Royal Navy took Vengeur into service as HMS Vengeur, but sold her within the year.[1]
Notes
- Earlier, he had been master (acting) of Eclair. In Eclair he participated in a notable engagement in which Eclair repulsed the French privateer Grande Decide, and he led a cutting out party that succeeded in capturing a French schooner against heavy odds.[4] Grand Décidé was a privateer under Mathieu Goy, commissioned in Guadeloupe in January 1804. She had a crew of 220 men and was armed with twenty-two 8-pounder guns.[5]
- Grand Napoléon was a privateer commissioned in Boulogne in March 1806. She under a captain Huret from January to February 1808, and later under a captain Fourmentin.[9] HMS Helena captured her on 19 April 1810.[10]
- Vengeur was a privateer from Boulogne, commissioned in November 1808, and probably a brig. She was of 120 tons (French; of load), 74 men, and 17 guns, under Jacques Bourgain.[14]
Citations
- Winfield (2008), p. 370.
- Hepper (1994), p. 115.
- Marshall (1828), p. 402.
- O'Byrne (1849), p. 1022.
- Demerliac (2003), p. 321, №2745.
- "No. 16395". The London Gazette. 11 August 1810. p. 1211.
- Demerliac (2003), p. 322, №2750.
- La Nicollière-Teijeiro (1896), p. 427.
- Demerliac (2003), p. 243, №1748.
- "No. 16436". The London Gazette. 18 December 1810. p. 2025.
- Ralfe (1820), p. 122.
- "No. 16223". The London Gazette. 24 January 1809. p. 110.
- Naval Chronicle, Vol. 21, p.164.
- Demerliac (2003), p. 246, №1781.
References
- Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 à 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782903179304. OCLC 492784876.
- Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
- La Nicollière-Teijeiro, Stéphane (1896). La Course et les Corsaires de Nantes (in French). H. Champion (Paris), Ve Vier (Nantes).
- Marshall, John (1828). . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. sup, part 2. London: Longman and company. p. 402.
- O'Byrne, William R. (1849). . A Naval Biographical Dictionary. London: John Murray. p. 1022.
- Ralfe, James (1820). The naval chronology of Great Britain; or, An historical account of naval and maritime events from the commencement of the war in 1803 to the end of the year 1816. Whitmore and Fenn.
- 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.