HMS Porcupine was a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 Banterer-class

Banterer class post ship

The Banterer-class sailing sixth rates were a series of six post ships built to an 1805 design by Sir William Rule, which served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War...

 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...

 of 24 guns,launched in 1807. She served extensively and relatively independently in the Adriatic and the Western Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, with her boats performing many cutting out expeditions, one of which earned for her crew the Naval General Service Medal. She was sold for breaking up in 1816.

Design

She was rated a 24-gun ship and the original plan was that she would mount that number of long 9-pounders on her main deck plus two 6-pounder guns on her forecastle. She also carried ten 24-pounder carronades on her quarter-deck and forecastle. By the time that Captain the Honorable Henry Duncan

Henry Duncan (1786–1835)

Captain The Honourable Sir Henry Duncan KCH, CB was a prominent Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century. The second surviving son of the highly regarded Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, who defeated the Dutch Navy at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797, Duncan achieved a...

 commissioned her in March 1807, the Admiralty had added two brass howitzers to her armament, while exchanging her 9-pounders for 32-pounder carronades. Her complement was increased by twenty to 175 officers, men and boys.

Service

Porcupine entered service in March 1807, operating in the Mediterranean Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 under the command of Captain Henry Duncan. Detached to serve on independent command in the Adriatic Campaign, Porcupine fought numerous minor actions with shore batteries and coastal merchant ships.

Adriatic

On 23 September 1807, she captured the Fortuna. Then on 7 October Porcupine chased a trabaccolo

Trabaccolo

The Trabaccoló, Trabaccalo, or Trabakul, is a type of Adriatic Sea sailing coaster. The name comes from the word trabacca, which means tent, which in turn recalls the vessel's sails. The trabaccoló was a typical Venetian boat-form that dates back to the first half of the 15th Century, and which...

 into the harbour of Zupaino on Šipan

Šipan

Šipan also Sipano is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands, 17 km northwest of Dubrovnik, Croatia; separated from the mainland coast by the Kolocepski Channel; area 16.22 km²; population 500 . It is the largest island in this group and its highest point is 243 m...

 (Giuppana), the largest of the Elaphiti Islands

Elaphiti Islands

The Elaphiti Islands or the Elaphites is a small archipelago consisting of several islands stretching northwest of Dubrovnik, in the Adriatic sea. The Elaphites have a total land area of around 30 square kilometers and a population of 850 inhabitants...

. That evening Duncan sent his boats, under the command of Lieutenant George Price, with Lieutenant Francis Smith, into the harbour where they captured and brought out the trabaccolo, which was the Venetian gunboat Safo. She was armed with a 24-pounder gun and some swivel gun

Swivel gun

The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rotated along their axes to allow the shooter to...

s, and had a crew of some 50 men, all under the command of Enseigne de vaisseau Anthonio Ghega. She was well moored to the shore and was expecting an attack. Even so, once the British arrived, most of the crew jumped overboard. Safo belonged to a division of gunboats deployed to protect the coast and had been sent out from Ragusa

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

 (Dubrovnik) three days earlier. Also, before entering the harbour, the British captured a guard boat with one 4-pounder swivel gun. Despite the resistance, the Porcupine had only two men wounded.

Between 23 September and 23 November, Porcupine captured some 40 enemy vessels, most of which were carrying grain and wine between Ragusa and Catero

Kotor

Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....

 (Kotor). Duncan received intelligence that the French were going to fortify the island of Curzola

Korcula

Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...

. He therefore kept Porcupine between the island and Ragusa. On 27 November Lieutenant Price in the cutter captured two small vessels sailing from Ragusa; small arms fire from the shore wounded one man. Two days later Price went into the harbour of Zuliano where he destroyed several small vessels and wine in warehouses that was intended for French troops. He brought out the only vessel afloat, a trabaccolo carrying a cargo of wool. As he was leaving the port another trabaccolo approached and before Porucpine could intercept it, Price had captured it too. She was sailing from Ragusa to Curzola with military stores, including two 6½" brass mortar

Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

s , two 5½" brass howitzers, four new carriages for 18-pounder guns, together with material for constructing a shore battery as well as shot and shell. Duncan was able to get the guns and most of the stores on to Porcupine before a gale came up, which forced him to destroy the two trabaccolos.

Porcupines next exploit occurred on 7 January 1808. After a chase of eight hours, Porcupine captured the French transport Saint Nicolo. She was armed with two guns, had a crew of 16 sailors, and also had on board 31 soldiers from the 6th Regiment of the Line. She was 36 hours out of Tarento

Taranto

Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....

. Finding out from the prize that another vessel had left four hour earlier, Duncan set out to find her in the channel between Paxos

Paxi

Paxi or Paxoi is the name given to the smallest group of the Ionian Islands . In Greek it is a plural form and it refers to a complex of islands, the largest of which are Paxos and Antipaxos...

 and Corfu

Corfu

Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

. He was successful in intercepting his quarry, which turned out to be the Madonna del Carmine. She was armed with six guns, had a crew of 20 men, and was carrying 33 soldiers, also from the 6th Regiment. Both vessels were on their first voyage and were carrying cargoes of grain and gunpowder for the garrison at Corfu.

Western Mediterranean

Next, Duncan was ordered to cruise in the Western Mediterranean off Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and continued his successful operations against coastal shipping. Following the outbreak of the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

, Duncan was ordered to take the Duke of Orléans

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...

 to Cadiz

Cádiz

Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

. Duncan refused and was subject to disparaging comments about his age, although he was later proven correct in his assessment. In June 1808, Robert Elliott was appointed to replace Duncan; however, some months elapsed before he was able to do so.
On 23 June a French vessel exited Civitavechia and tried to elude Porcupine. However, Porcupine succeeded in running her ashore between two towers, each armed with two cannons. Lieutenant Price took in the boats and succeeded in destroying her, without suffering any casualties and despite heavy fire from the towers. The vessel was from Ischia

Ischia

Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...

 and was sailing with a cargo of wine.

Two days later, Porcupine was off the island of Monte Christo

Montecristo

Montecristo is a small Italian islet, approximately 4.3 kilometers across at its widest point, located about halfway between Corsica and mainland Italy; south of Elba and west of Giglio. It is part of the Tuscan Archipelago...

 when a daylight she encountered a French schooner. After an 11-hour chase, Porcupine succeeded in capturing her about four leagues south of Bastia

Bastia

Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....

. The French crew abandoned their vessel and escaped before Porcupine could take possession of her. She was the Nouvelle Enterprise, three weeks old, pierced for 14 guns but only mounting six. She was 24 hours out of Leghorn

Livorno

Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...

 and was carrying bale goods for Scala Nova

Kusadasi

Kuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary...

 in Turkey.

However, on 9 July Duncan spotted an enemy merchant vessel, and her escorts, two gunboats, each armed with a 24-pounder gun, all sailing along the coast. Porcupine was becalmed off Monte Circello, Romania

Latium

Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...

 so Duncan sent in her boats. After rowing eight hours in the heat, the boats succeeded in driving the merchant vessel on shore and the gunboats to take shelter under the guns of two shore batteries at Port d'Anzo (Anzio

Anzio

Anzio is a city and comune on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola and Ventotene...

). Three more French vessels arrived and succeeded in getting into the harbour. One of the vessels was a large polacca

Polacca

A polacca is a type of seventeenth-century sailing vessel, similar to the xebec. The name is the feminine of "Polish" in the Italian language. The polacca was frequently seen in the Mediterranean...

 of six guns, and she anchored a little further out than the other vessels. That evening Duncan sent in the boats again to cut her out. The polacca, which had a crew of some 20-30 men, was expecting an attack and had tied her to the beach. French soldiers were on the beach, and the polcacca was within close range of the batteries, a tower, and the gunboats. Still, the British succeeded in capturing her and getting her out to sea, though it took them about an hour and twenty minutes to do so. The polacca had been sailing from Hieres Bay

Îles d'Hyères

The Îles d'Hyères is a group of three islands off Hyères in the Var département, in the south-east of France. The three mediterranean islands are named Porquerolles, Port-Cros and Île du Levant. Together, they make up an area of .-See also:...

 to Naples with a cargo of salt. In the attack, the British suffered eight men wounded, including Lieutenant Price, who was severely injured in his head and leg. He received a promotion to commander for this and earlier achievements in some 30 boat actions. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "10 July Boat Service 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 10 July, Porcupine captured the Madona de Rosario. Eleven days later, Porcupine ran a French polacca ashore near Monte Circello. Lieutenant Smith took in the boats and destroyed the polacca, which was of about 200 tons burthen (bm) and which had been carrying a cargo of iron hoops and staves. The cutting out expedition suffered no casualties though it came under fire from a tower with two guns located no more than a pistol-shot away.

After dark on 8 August, Porcupine, still under the command of Duncan, had her cutter and jolly boat under Lieutenant Francis Smith cut out a vessel she had run ashore on the island of Pianosa

Pianosa

The small island of Pianosa , about in area, forms part of Italy's Tuscan Archipelago. Its name comes from the Italian pianura . Its highest point stands above sea level. Pianosa is part of the Elba island municipality. On clear days, Elbans see Pianosa as a dark blue line over the lighter blue sea...

. The cutting out party was successful, bringing out the Concepcion, which was armed with four guns. She had been lying within 30 yards of a tower and a shore battery of six guns. She was also defended by soldiers on the beach and one of her guns which she had landed. She had been carrying bale goods from Genoa to Cyprus. The action cost Porcupine one man killed, and a lieutenant and eight men severely wounded, with three men later dying of their wounds. Smith might have received a promotion for this and prior actions but Duncan's letter to Admiral Collingwood

Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood

Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.-Early years:Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne...

 was lost and the duplicate arrived only after Collingwood had died in March 1810.

Channel

By 14 July 1810, Elliot had assumed command of Porcupine. On that day the sailing master for Porcupine impressed an American sailor, Isaac Clark, from the Jane out of Norfolk, Virginia. Elliott tore up the seaman's protection (a document attesting to his being an American citizen and so exempt from British impressment), declaring the man an Englishman. Over the next few weeks Elliott had Clark whipped three times (each time consisting 24 lashes) when Clark refused to go on duty, and held in irons on bread and water. After nine weeks Clark surrendered. He served on Porcupine for two and a half years, being wounded in an engagement with a French frigate. Eventually he was transferred to and then to a hospital due to ongoing problems with his wound. There the American consul was able to get him released and discharged, a copy of the protection having been forwarded from Salem, Massachusetts. Clark further testified that there were seven Americans aboard Porcupine, three of whom had agreed to serve.

In 1811, Porcupine was ordered to sail to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and returned to Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

. She was at Portsmouth on 31 July 1812 when the British authorities seized the American ships there and at Spithead on the outbreak of 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...

. She therefore shared, with numerous other vessels, in the subsequent prize money for these vessels: Belleville, Aeos, Janus, Ganges, and Leonidas.

Porcupine later joined the squadron off 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...

, assisting the British advance during the Peninsular War. Porcupine, while under command of Captain John Goode and carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Charles Penrose

Charles Penrose (Royal Navy officer)

Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Vinicombe Penrose KCB KCMG was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.-Naval career:...

, through early 1814 operated against French coastal positions and squadrons.

On the morning of 23 February 1813, she and the other vessels of Penrose's flotilla assisted the British Army in its crossing of the Ardour river, near Bayonne

Bayonne

Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...

. In this service two of Porcupines seamen drowned, as did some others from the flotilla when boats overturned crossing the bar on the coast.

On 2 April Captain Goode, who had ascended the Gironde

Gironde estuary

The Gironde is a navigable estuary , in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just below the centre of Bordeaux...

 above Pouillac

Pouillac

Pouillac is a commune in the Charente-Maritime in the department in the Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern France.-Population:-External links:* *...

, sent Porcupines boats, under the orders of Lieutenant Robert Graham Dunlop

Robert Graham Dunlop

Robert Graham Dunlop was a ship's captain and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Keppoch, Scotland in 1790 and joined the Royal Navy at the age of 13. He became a lieutenant while serving during the Napoleonic Wars; he later reached the rank of captain...

, to pursue a French flotilla that was proceeding down from Blaye

Blaye

Blaye is a commune and subprefecture in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are called Blayais or the Blayaises.-Geography:...

 to Tallemont. As the British boats approached them, the French flotilla ran on shore under the cover of about 200 troops from Blaye who lined the beach. Dunlop landed with a party of seamen and marines and drove the French off. The landing party remained until the tide allowed them to take away most of the French vessels. The British captured a gun-brig, six gun-boats, one armed schooner, three chasse-marée

Chasse-marée

In English, a chasse-marée is a specific, archaic type of decked commercial sailing vessel.In French, un chasse-marée was 'a wholesale fishmonger', originally on the Channel coast of France and later, on the Atlantic coast as well. He bought in the coastal ports and sold in inland markets. However,...

s, and an imperial barge, and burned a gun-brig, two gun-boats, and a chasse-marée. Total British casualties were two seamen missing and 14 seamen and marines wounded.

Porcupine returned to Plymouth from Bordeaux on 6 September 1814. On 4 November she sailed to the Coast of Africa and thence to the Cape of Good Hope before coming back to Sierra Leone on 29 April 1815.

Fate

On 16 October 1815 Porcupine arrived at Deal

Deal, Kent

Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...

 and sailed for the river to be paid off. She arrive at Woolwich on 6 November and was paid off and laid up in ordinary

Reserve 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....

. Although there were some plans for her to serve on the South America station, she never sailed again. Porcupine was sold at Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....

in April 1816 for breaking up.