HMS Reindeer (also Rein Deer) 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...

 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop

Cruizer class brig-sloop

The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging...

 of the 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...

, built by Samuel & Daniel Brent at Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...

 and was launched in 1804. She was built of fir, which made for more rapid construction at the expense of durability. Reindeer fought in the Napoleonic Wars before succumbing in 1814 to the guns of the USS Wasp

USS Wasp (1814)

USS Wasp was a sloop-of-war that served in the U.S. Navy in 1814 during the War of 1812. She was the fifth US Navy ship to carry that name....

 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...

.

Caribbean

In September 1804 Commander John Fyffe commissioned Reindeer and on 21 November sailed for the Jamaica station, of which Rear-Admiral Dacres

James Richard Dacres (1749–1810)

James Richard Dacres was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...

 was the C-in-C. On 7 March 1805 she and Hunter captured the Spanish privateer schooner Santa Rosalia Galundrina after a chase of over five hours. During the chase the Spaniard threw her three guns − one 8-pounder and two 4-pounders - overboard. She was under the command of Francisco de Naras and had a crew of 57 men. The privateer had left Caliodam in Cuba the previous day for a fourteen day cruise but had taken no prizes. Fyffe sent her in to Port Royal

Port Royal

Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...

 with Hunter.

Then, on 13 September Reindeer captured the French privateer Renommée, of two 6-pounder guns. Reindeers crew had had to labour at the sweeps for some six hours under a hot sun before they were able to reach their quarry. Renommée had a crew of 40 men and was most recently out of Baracoa

Baracoa

Baracoa is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was founded by the first governor of Cuba, the Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in 1511...

. On this cruise she had taken no prizes.

Early in March 1805, Reindeer and Magicienne sent two boats each, under the command of Lieutenant John Kelly Tudor of Reindeer, to cut out a 4-gun schooner from under a battery in Aguadilla Bay, Puerto Rico.

On 24 March 1806, off Puerto Rico, Reindeer encountered two French brigs, Phaeton and Voltigeur, each of sixteen 6-pounder guns. The vessels exchanged fire for some four hours. Reindeer succeeded in damaging the French brigs before they escaped; Reindeer too had some damage but no casualties. Two days later captured the two French brigs. The Admiralty took Phaeton into British service as Mignonne

French brig Phaeton (1804)

The French brig Phaeton was a Palinure-class brig launched in 1804. The British captured her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Mignonne. In 1807 they renamed her HMS Musette. She was sold in 1814.-Capture:...

 and Voltigeur as Pelican

French brig Voltigeur (1804)

The French brig Voltigeur was a Palinure-class brig launched in 1804. The British captured her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Pelican. She was sold in 1812.-Capture:...

.

Then on 21 April, off Cape St. Nicholas in San Domingo, Reindeer captured the French privateer schooner Creole. She was pierced for 14 guns but only mounted six, not including swivel guns. She had a crew of 59 and had put another 16 men on prizes. Creole had a reputation for being the fastest vessel in those waters; Fyffe believed that he would not have caught her if Creole's captain had not been so confident that he could outrun Reindeer that he tried to cut in front of her bow to gain the wind. Reindeer also destroyed another small privateer of two guns. The crew, however, escaped.

In January 1807 Reindeer shared, with , and in the proceeds of a number of captures. On 18 January they captured the Santa Cecilia. Two days later they captured the schooner Mary. Then on 4 February they captured the Friends. Later that February Commander Peter John Douglas

Peter John Douglas

Peter John Douglas was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.He born at Portsmouth on 30 June 1787, the son of Admiral William Douglas...

 replaced Fyffe in command of Reindeer.

On 13 October as Reindeer was chasing a suspicious schooner when came up and cut the quarry off, which then struck. The vessel turned out to be the Amor de la Patria, under Captain Josse de Tournecy. She was armed with three guns and had a crew of 63 men. She was five days out of St. Jago (Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....

) but had not taken any prizes.

On 21 December, after a 10-hour chase, Reindeer captured the French schooner privateer Experiment, under Captain Antoine Corocco, off Tiberon in the extreme south-west of Haiti. She was armed with two guns and carrying 40 men and had made no captures in the three weeks since she had left Baracoa

Baracoa

Baracoa is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was founded by the first governor of Cuba, the Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in 1511...

 in Cuba. Then on 25 January 1808, off Point Picolet in San Domingo, Reindeer chased and captured the French privateer schooner Lyonnaise, under Captain Jean Tessier. Lyonnaise was pierced for 12 guns but only mounted five; she had a crew of 85 men and was eight days out of Baracoa. Two days later, Douglas, learning of a privateer rendezvous, managed to run one of them ashore where her crew abandoned her. Reindeer brought the 3-gun vessel off the shore without much trouble. Douglas then sailed for Port Royal with her. As he had 90 prisoners on board and 30 men away in prizes Douglas apparently feared an uprising.

On 10 November 1808, Reindeer, , , , and met by chance. The captains got together and decided to capture the town and port of Samana

Santa Bárbara de Samaná

Samaná, in full Santa Bárbara de Samaná, is a city and municipality in northeastern Dominican Republic and is the capital of Samaná Province. It is located on the northern coast of Samaná Bay...

 in order to assist the Spanish patriots that had established a blockade of San Domingo. The town was also was the last port of refuge for privateers to the windward of San Domingo and the enemy were in the act of erecting batteries for its protection. The British entered the following day and took possession of the harbour. Captain Charles Dashwood of Franchise handed Samana over to a Spanish officer, Don Diego de Lira, who guaranteed the safety of the French inhabitants on their plantations.

During the following week the British captured two French 5-gun privateer schooners. One was the Guerrière, Louis Telin, master, with a crew of 110 men; the other was the Exchange with a crew of 110. The British also took three merchant vessels, the schooner Diana and a brig, both laden with fish, and the sloop Brutus, laden with coffee.

On the morning of 16 November Reindeer and Pert re-captured the English ship Jeannet, R. Bradshaw, master, of 10 guns and 185 tons (bm

Builder's Old Measurement

Builder's Old Measurement is the method of calculating the size or cargo capacity of a ship used in England from approximately 1720 to 1849. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam...

). She had been bound from London to Havana with bale goods and was running for Samana harbour with a prize crew after being taken by a privateer. The two British sloops also captured another prize, the 350 ton (bm) Spanish ship St. Erasmo, A. Gerona, master, sailing from Malaga to Havana with wine and bale goods.

In 1809 Reindeer was in the North Sea. On 8 March she captured the French vessel Mouche. Then on 4 November she sailed for Jamaica again under Commander Christopher Crackenthorp Askew.

Channel

In 1811 Reindeer came under the command of Commander Nicholas Lechmere Pateshall. In August she was in Plymouth, where Commander Daniel Ross took command. His successor, in 1813, was Commander William Manners.

During 1813 Reindeer captured several vessels, including some privateers. On 2 February Reindeer and captured the American letter of marque

Letter of marque

In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...

 schooner Cashier, which was armed with six 12-pounder guns. The capture followed a chase during which the American vessel lost one man killed and several wounded out of her crew of 40. Then on 19 March Reindeer captured the French brig Pandour. Next, on 6 April, Reindeer was in company with when they captured the American private schooner of war Shadow. On 15 July Reindeer was in company with when Whiting recaptured the Friends. On 22 November, Reindeer captured the French 14-gun privateer lugger Spéculation. She was 5 days out of St Malo but had taken nothing. Lastly, Reindeer shared in the prize money arising from her sister ship s recapture of the Racehorse on 13 December.
On 28 June 1814 Reindeer encountered the American sloop Wasp, under the command of Johnston Blakely about 500 miles west of Ushant

Ushant

Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...

. In the resulting action Reindeer suffered 25 killed, including her commander, and 42 men wounded, out of a total of 98 men and 20 boys, and she was forced to surrender. Key factors in the fight were that Wasp's crew greatly outnumbered Reindeer's, and Wasp's broadside was much heavier than Reindeer's. At the time of the battle, Reindeer had 24-pounder carronades instead of her original 32-pounder carronades because of her age and weakness.