HMS Peruvian (1808)
Encyclopedia
HMS Peruvian was an 18-gun launched in 1808 at Parson's Yard, Warsash
Warsash
Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club...
, England. She was the first naval vessel built at that yard. Peruvian captured two American privateers and participated in an expedition up the Penobscot River
Penobscot River
The Penobscot River is a river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to , making it the second longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains .It arises from four branches...
during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Then she claimed Ascension Island
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
for Great Britain in 1815. She was broken up in 1830.
Napoleonic Wars
Commander Francis Douglas commissioned her in May 1808 for the DownsThe Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...
. Douglas had been first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
of HMS Repulse (1780)
HMS Repulse (1780)
HMS Repulse was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 November 1780 at East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.-Mutiny at The Nore:...
at the mutiny at The Nore in 1797.
On 19 February 1809 Peruvian was in company with the sloop Osprey when Osprey captured the Vrouw Gesina.
Then on 14 January 1810 she sailed for the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
. Three days later Peruvian was in sight, and so entitled to share, together with a number of other vessels, in the prize money arising from the recapture of the Toms by Hyperion. In November 1810 Commander Francis Dickinson took command, but he died on 23 April 1812.
War of 1812
In 1812 Peruvian was under Lieutenant Amos F. Westropp, in the West Indies. He was promoted to Commander in August. On 12 October 1812, Peruvian captured the sloop Prevyonte. Twelve days later Peruvian captured the American privateer schooner Yankee off Sombrero, Anguilla
Sombrero, Anguilla
Sombrero, also known as Hat Island, is the northernmost island of the Lesser Antilles in position 18° 60'N, 63° 40'W. It lies north west of Anguilla across the Dog and Prickly Pear Passage. The distance to Dog Island, the closest island of Anguilla, is . Sombrero is long north-south, and wide....
. Yankee had 7 guns and a crew of 44 men. She was 38 days out of Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, but had made no captures.
In 1813, under Commander George Kippen, Peruvian was on the American Station. On 6 February she was returning to her station from St. Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
, when around seventy-nine miles E. by N. of Sombrero, she encountered an American privateer. During the last two hours of the 15 hour chase the privateer used her stern guns to fire continuously at Peruvian. Eventually Peruvian got within pistol shot and fired her bow guns, with her marines also firing. The privateer surrendered. She turned out to be the John, of 16 guns and a crew of 100 men. At the time, Peruvian was apparently in company with Cumberland
HMS Cumberland (1807)
HMS Cumberland was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 August 1807 at Northfleet.She was converted to serve as a prison ship in 1830. She was renamed Fortitude in 1833....
.
In August 1814, Peruvian took part in an expedition up the Penobscot River
Penobscot River
The Penobscot River is a river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to , making it the second longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains .It arises from four branches...
in Maine. She joined , , , , as well as some transports. , , , and also joined. On the evening of 31 August, Sylph, Peruvian, and the transport Harmony, accompanied by a boat from Dragon, embarked marines, foot soldiers and a detachment from the Royal Artillery, to move up the Penobscot under the command of Captain Robert Barrie of Dragon. The objective was the American frigate , of twenty-six 18 pounders, which had taken refuge some 27 miles up stream at Hampden, Maine. Here Adams had landed her guns and fortified a position on the bank with fifteen 18-pounders commanding the river. Moving up the river took two days, but eventually, after the Battle of Hampden
Battle of Hampden
The Battle of Hampden, though a minor action of the War of 1812, was the last significant clash of arms in New England, in this instance, in the District of Maine . It represented the end of two centuries of violent contest over Maine by surrounding political units...
, the British were able to capture the American defenders at Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, though not until after the Americans had burnt the Adams. The British also captured 11 other ships and destroyed six. The British lost only one man killed, a sailor from Dragon, and had several soldiers wounded.
In October 1814 Commander James Kearney White took over command. On 22 December Peruvian detained the Spanish vessel Dolores, which was condemned as a "droit of Admiralty".
The news of Waterloo
On 8 April 1815 Peruvian left Bermuda for home. By mid-June she was at OstendOstend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
. From there she carried Major the Hon. Henry Percy of the 14th Light Dragoons, the only aide to the Duke of Wellington
Duke of Wellington
The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...
to have survived Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
unscathed, into the middle of the Channel, where she was becalmed. White lowered Peruvians gig, chose four stalwart men from his crew, took an oar himself and handed one to Percy, who had learned how to row at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, and with two captured French Eagles lying in the stern, rowed for the Kent coast. Around 3 p.m. on 21 June, they arrived near Broadstairs
Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
, where Percy and White immediately took a post-chaise
Chaise
A chaise, sometimes called chay or shay, is a light two - or four-wheeled traveling or pleasure carriage, with a folding hood or calash top for one or two people....
-and-four to deliver the news to London.
Ascension Island
Peruvian, still under Captain White, together with her sister ship , under Captain William Dobree, had been part of the flotilla under Rear Admiral George CockburnGeorge Cockburn
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
that had taken Napoleon into his final exile at St Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
. Cockburn was concerned that the French might use Ascension Island
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
, uninhabited at the time, to stage a rescue mission. He therefore decided to claim and garrison the island. On 22 October 1815, at 5pm, Peruvian and Zenobia anchored in Clarence Bay. The ships' logs record that at 5.30pm, White and Dobree came ashore, raised the Jack
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
, and took possession of the island in the name of His Britannic Majesty
Britannic Majesty
His Britannic Majesty, or Her Britannic Majesty, depending on the gender of the monarch, is a formal, or official, term for the sovereign power of the United Kingdom and Dominion Realms in diplomacy, the law of nations, and international relations....
, King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. Zenobia left shortly thereafter but Peruvian stayed until spring.
Napoleon died on St Helena in 1821 and the Admiralty wanted to withdraw the garrison. However, Sir George Collier
Sir George Collier, 1st Baronet
Sir George Ralph Collier, 1st Baronet KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812. He had an eventful early life, being shipwrecked early in his career and later captured by the French...
, Commodore of the West Africa Squadron
West Africa Squadron
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron's task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa...
, persuaded the Admiralty to retain it as it had become a victualling station for the vessels of the squadron, which was engaged in anti-slavery patrols. It also provided a sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
for the squadron's ships and crew.
Ascension Island was later designated "HMS Ascension", a "Stone sloop of War of the smaller class".
Fate
By July 1816 Peruvian was laid up in ordinaryReserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
at Plymouth where she stayed until 1830. She was broken up on 25 February 1830.