HMS Hermes was a 20-gun Hermes-class

Hermes class post ship

The Hermes-class sailing sixth rates were a series of four 20-gun post ships built to an 1810 design based on the ex-French prize Bonne Citoyenne, which the British captured in 1796, and which served in the Royal Navy to the end of the Napoleonic War....

 sixth-rate

Sixth-rate

Sixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...

 post ship

Post ship

Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail to describe a ship of the sixth-rate that was smaller than a frigate , but by virtue of being a rated ship , had to have as its captain a post captain rather than a lieutenant or commander...

 built in Milford Dockyard

Milford Haven

Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...

. She was destroyed in 1814 to prevent her falling into American hands after grounding during her unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer was a short-lived earthen and stockade fortification erected by the United States Army on Mobile Point, near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. Built during the War of 1812, the fort was the site of two attacks by the British. The first, unsuccessful, attack led to the...

 on Mobile Point

Mobile Point

Mobile Point is a peninsula in Baldwin County, Alabama that partially encloses Mobile Bay. At its western tip is Fort Morgan, which faces Fort Gaines sitting across the inlet to the Mobile Bay, on Dauphin Island. Along the point is the unincorporated community of Fort Morgan, Alabama....

 outside Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

.

Napoleonic Wars

Her first commander was Captain Philip Browne. Under Browne, Hermes first captured an American vessel laden with stores for the Brest fleet and then two vessels from New York and Baltimore. On 24 September, while near Cape La Hève (Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

), Hermes recaptured the Prussian brig Anna Maria which had been bound for London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 from Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

. A privateer managed to escape because of the nearness of the French coast.

Strong winds drove Hermes off station when near Beachy Head

Beachy Head

Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...

 he discovered a large French lugger

Lugger

A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...

 in the midst of a number of English vessels. The French privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

 had already taken one prize and might have taken others had Hermes not arrived. After a chase of two hours, in which the lugger sustained some damage and had several men wounded, the privateer struck to Hermes. As Hermes slowed, the strong wind broke her maintop-sail-yard in the slings and her fore-sail split. The privateer immediately tried to escape on the opposite tack. Hermes managed to turn and by cramming on all sail caught up with the privateer although she had gotten a two-mile lead. Browne decided to run alongside, despite the gale to prevent the French vessel from escaping again. Unfortunately, as the lugger crossed Hermes hawse a heavy sea caused Hermes to run over the lugger, sinking her. Hermes was unable to launch any boats and so was only able to save 12 out of the lugger's 51 men. (Another 10 men had been aboard the lugger's prize, which had escaped to France during the chase, taking with her the prize's crew.) The lugger turned out to be the Mouche of Boulogne, under the command of M. Gageux. She had carried fourteen 12-pounder and 6-pounder guns.

War of 1812

On 11 February 1812 Hermes captured the American brig Flora. Then on 26 April Hermes captured the American brig Tigress.

Four days later, Hermes and captured the American privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

 schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Gipsy (or Gipsey). She was on her way from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 with a cargo worth ₤50,000 when the British vessels captured her in the mid-Atlantic after a three-day chase. Gipsey surrendered twice to Hermes and twice got away again before Belle Poule caught her. Gipsey was of 300 tons and was armed with twelve 18-pounder carronades and an 18-pounder gun on a pivot mount.

In late Autumn 1812, Hermes was sailing off the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

 in the company of the 74-gun third rate HMS Elephant

HMS Elephant (1786)

HMS Elephant was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by George Parsons in Bursledon, Hampshire, and launched on 24 August 1786....

, under the command of Francis Austen

Francis Austen

Sir Francis William Austen, GCB was a British officer who spent most of his long life on active duty in the Royal Navy, rising to the position of Admiral of the Fleet.-Background:...

, the brother of the acclaimed novelist Jane Austen

Jane Austen

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

, together with the 36-gun fifth-rate

Fifth-rate

In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...

 frigate HMS Phoebe

HMS Phoebe (1795)

HMS Phoebe was a 36-gun fifth rate of the British Royal Navy. She had a career of almost twenty years and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...

. On 27 December Elephant and Hermes captured the American privateer schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Sword Fish of Gloucester

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...

, John Evans, Master, and her crew of 82 men. During the 11 hour chase, which covered more than 100 miles, Sword Fish had thrown overboard ten of sixteen 6-pounder guns. Sword Fish was 16 days out of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 but had not captured anything.

In April 1814, Captain the Hon. William Percy

William Henry Percy

William Henry Percy was a Royal Navy officer.-Family:...

 took command of Hermes, and on 5 August sailed her, with HMS Carron accompanying, from Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

. They arrived at the mouth of the Apalachicola River

Apalachicola River

The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 112 mi long in the State of Florida. This river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin for short, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its farthest headstream in northeast Georgia is approximately 500...

 eight days later.

Fate

In September 1814, Percy led her in an unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer was a short-lived earthen and stockade fortification erected by the United States Army on Mobile Point, near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. Built during the War of 1812, the fort was the site of two attacks by the British. The first, unsuccessful, attack led to the...

. The Louisiana State Museum

Louisiana State Museum

The Louisiana State Museum , founded in New Orleans in 1906 and still headquartered there, is a complex of National Historic Landmarks housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic events and cultural diversity....

 has a map of the battle.

The attack took place on 15 September at about 4:30pm. Two of the four British vessels could not get close enough to fire. The fort was more strongly armed than expected, the British fire was ineffective, and a parallel ground attack failed. Furthermore, as she tried to withdraw, Hermes grounded under the guns of the fort. Percy evacuated her crew on boats from and then set fire to Hermes, which blew up after the fire reached her magazine

Magazine (artillery)

Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...

 at around 10pm. In all, Hermes lost about 25 men killed and 24 wounded, of whom five died later.

On 18 January 1815, Percy faced a court martial on board , off Cat Island (Mississippi)

Cat Island (Mississippi)

Cat Island is a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of the United States. The island is named for raccoons which Spanish explorers mistook for cats. It is unknown who discovered Cat Island. It was called Isle-aux-Chats and Isola de Gati in French and Italian, respectively. It is within the...

. The court acquitted him of all blame, finding that the circumstances justified the attack and that all involved had behaved with great gallantry.