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HMS Zebra (1780)
Encyclopedia
HMS Zebra was an 16-gun (later 18-gun) Zebra-class sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
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...
, launched on 31 August 1780 at Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
. She was the second ship to bear the name. After twenty years of service, including involvement in the West Indies campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
she was converted into a bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
in 1798. In this capacity she took part in attacks on French ports, and was present at both battles of Copenhagen.
American Revolution
The Zebra was commissioned in August 1780 under Commander John Bourchier. She then served in the Downs Squadron during the closing stages of the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. On 10 February 1781 she was in company with when they captured the American privateer Revenge. Then around 10 May she was in company with the sloop and the cutters and when they recaptured the Industry and the Jenny.
On 14 April 1782 Zebra was with Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782...
, the commander-in chief of the Leeward Islands station, at the Battle of the Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
. She was in Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood's
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...
division. During fleet engagements, only large ships-of-the-line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
of over 50 guns traditionally took part in the battles and the small Zebra did not participate in a battle. Smaller vessels like Zebra would be used to relay messages, tow damaged ships out of the line or rescue seaman.
On 28 June Zebra, under the command of Commander John Loncraft, was in company with when they captured the American privateer Tartar. On 19 January 1783 she captured the brig Providence on 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...
. She returned from the West Indies to the UK after 1783.
From January to October 1786 she underwent repairs at Woolwich
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....
. Then between April and May 1789 she underwent fitting for service it the Channel. Zebra was recommissioned in August under Commander Robert Forbes. In November 1790 she came under the command of Commander William Brown and sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 November. From April to July 1793 she was back at Woolwich for repairs.
Sloop
In June 1793 Commander Robert FaulknorRobert Faulknor the younger
Robert Faulknor the younger was an 18th century Royal Navy officer, part of the Faulknor naval dynasty. He was court-martialled and died in an action off Guadeloupe in the eastern Caribbean Sea.-Early life:...
recommissioned Zebra. He sailed her for the Leeward Islands on 26 November.
In 1794, Zebra participated in the capture of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
by the expeditionary force under the command of Admiral Sir John Jervis
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
and Lieutenant General Sir Charles Grey
Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey
Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, KB PC was one of the most important British generals of the 18th century. He was the fourth son of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet, of Howick in Northumberland. He served in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and French Revolutionary War...
.
In February 1794 the English attacked Martinique. By 20 March, only Fort Bourbon
Fort Desaix
Fort Desaix is a Vauban fort and one of four forts that protects Fort-de-France, the capital of Martinique. The fort was built from 1768 to 1772 and sits on a hill, Morne Garnier, overlooking what was then Fort Royal...
and Fort Royal
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
still held out. Jervis ordered the third rate ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
(64 guns), and the Zebra to take Fort Saint Louis
Fort Saint Louis (Martinique)
Fort Saint Louis is a fortress on a peninsula at Fort-de-France, Martinique. Today the Fort is both a naval base and an Historic Monument. There are daily tours of the fort, though the portion that is still a naval base is off-limits.-Naval Base:...
. Asia was unable to get close, and so Commander Faulknor went in without Asias help. Despite facing heavy fire, Faulknor ran Zebra close under the walls. He and his ship's company then used Zebras boats to land. The British stormed the fort and captured it. Zebra lost only her pilot killed and four men wounded. Meanwhile the boats of the British fleet captured Fort Royal and two days later Fort Bourbon capitulated.
Jervis promoted Faulknor to post-captain and gave him command of the French 28-gun 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:...
frigate Bienvenue, which the British had captured at Fort Royal and which Jervis renamed in Faulknor's honour. In 1847, the feat earned the remaining survivors of Zebras crew the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Zebra 17 March 1794". The crew also qualified for the clasp "17 Mar. Boat Service 1794" for the capture of the French frigate Bienvenue and other vessels in Fort Royal Bay.
In March Commander Richard Bowen
Richard Bowen
Richard Bowen was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars...
replaced Faulknor, only to be replaced in April by Lieutenant Lancelot Skynner. Commander George Vaughn replaced Skynner within the month. On 14 April 1794 Zebra was present at the capture of Basse Terre
Basse-Terre
Basse-Terre is the prefecture of Guadeloupe, an overseas region and department of France located in the Lesser Antilles...
, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
.
Zebra returned to Fort Royal on 4 December with the French schooner Carmagnols, which she had taken on 30 November off Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
. The Carmangnole had a crew of 35 men and was armed with 10 guns.
The captures of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia yielded prize money for the captains and crews of the vessels involved, and for the army units.
Early in 1795, Zebra, under Captain Skinner, supported the British Army in suppressing an insurrection by the indigenous Caribs on St Vincent
Saint Vincent (island)
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...
. Then captured the 10-gun Brutus off Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
on 10 October 1795, followed by the 18-gun French schooner Républicaine on 14 October 1795. Zebra, under the command of Commander Norborne (or Norborn) Thompson, shared in the prize money by agreement.
Early in 1796, and Zebra, under Commander David M'Iver, captured a privateer and recaptured two schooners. On 12 September Zebra, under Commander John Hurst, captured the Victoire between Grenada and Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
. Victoire was armed with six guns and had a crew of 65 men. She was eight days out of Guadeloupe and had captured a sloop from Barbados with a cargo of provisions for Martinique. had recaptured the sloop off Marie-Galante
Marie-Galante
Marie-Galante is an island of the Caribbean Sea located at the south of Guadeloupe and at north of Dominica. Marie-Galante is a dependence of Guadeloupe which is a french overseas department....
. At some point Zebra captured the Spanish ship Santa Maria Magdalena.
Early in 1797 Admiral Henry Harvey
Henry Harvey
Admiral Sir Henry Harvey, KB was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and especially distinguished himself at the Glorious First of June in command of...
sent Zebra to Tobago to gather a detachment of troops. Zebra then rendezvoused with Harvey and his flotilla at the island of Carriacou
Carriacou and Petite Martinique
Carriacou and Petite Martinique is the dependency of Grenada, lying north of Grenada island and south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Lesser Antilles. The Grenadine islands to the north of Carriacou and Petite Martinique belong to the nation of St...
, in the Grenadines
Grenadines
The Grenadines is a Caribbean island chain of over 600 islands in the Windward Islands.-Geographic boundaries:They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither...
, for the invasion of Trinidad. The flotilla sailed from Carriacou on 15 February and arrived off Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
on the 16th. At Port of Spain they found a Spanish squadron consisting of four ships of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
and a frigate, all under the command of Rear-Admiral Don Sebastian Ruiz de Apodaca. Harvey sent Zebra and some of the other smaller ships to protect the transports and anchored his own ships of the line opposite the Spanish squadron. At 2am on 17 February the British discovered that four of the five Spanish vessels were on fire; they were able to capture the 74-gun San Domaso but the others were destroyed.The five Spanish ships were San Vincente (Captain Don Geronimo Mendoza; 84 guns), Gallardo (Captain Don Gabriel Sororido; 74 guns), Arrogante (Captain Don Raphael Benasa; 74 guns), San Damaso (Don Tores Jordan; 74 guns), and Santa Cecilia (Captain Don Manuel Urtesabel; 36 guns). Later that morning General Sir Ralph Abercrombie landed the troops. The Governor of Trinidad, José Maria Chacón
José Maria Chacón
Don José María Chacón was the last Spanish Governor of Trinidad. He was responsible for signing the Cedula of Population in 1783 , moved the capital from San José de Oruña to Puerto de España in 1783, founded the city of San Fernando in 1784 and surrendered the island of Trinidad to a British...
, surrendered the next day. Zebra shared with the rest of the flotilla in the allocation of £40,000 for the proceeds of the ships taken at Trinidad and of the property found on the island.
Hurst died in March 1797. It is not clear who sailed Zebra back to Britain for paying off and laying up.
Bomb vessel
Between March and April 1798, Wells & Co. converted Zebra to a bomb vesselBomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
at a cost of £4,319. She then spent April through June at Deptford Dockyard undergoing a full conversion, which cost £7,392. Commander Thomas Sparke recommissioned her in April.
On 28 August 1799 Zebra was with the British fleet that captured the Dutch hulks Drotchterland and Brooderschap, and the ships Helder, Venus, Minerva, and Hector, in the Nieuwe Diep, in Holland. The capture of these vessels was part of the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...
and preceded by two days the Vlieter Incident
Vlieter Incident
The Vlieter incident was the surrender without a fight of a squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic, commanded by Rear-Admiral Samuel Story, during the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland to the British navy on a sandbank near the Channel known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen, on August 30,...
in which a large part of the navy of the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
, commanded by Rear-Admiral Samuel Story
Samuel Story
Samuel Story was a vice-admiral of the navy of the Batavian Republic. He commanded the squadron that surrendered without a fight to the Royal Navy at the Vlieter Incident in 1799.-Early life:...
, surrendered to the British navy on a sandbank near the Channel
Channel (geography)
In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...
known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen
Wieringen
Wieringen is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It consists of a former island, also named Wieringen, and there are plans to make Wieringen an island again by widening the Amsteldiepkanaal into a lake called the Wieringerrandmeer.-Population centres :The...
. Zebra was also among the vessels sharing in the prize money from the Dutch vessels of the Vlieter Incident.
In December 1799 Zebra was under Commander Edward Sneyd Clay
Edward Sneyd Clay
Edward Sneyd Clay was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.Clay entered the navy just before the end of the American War of Independence...
in the North Sea. Zebras, next major campaign was the Battle of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...
in 1801. She suffered no casualties. In 1847, Zebras surviving crew qualified to receive the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Copenhagen 1801".
Napoleonic Wars
Between March and May 1803 Zebra underwent another fitting out at Woolwich. At some point in 1803 Commander William Proctor took command.In July and August 1804 Zebra, participated in the squadron under Captain Robert Dudley Oliver
Robert Dudley Oliver
Admiral Robert Dudley Oliver was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the early nineteenth century, who served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars with distinction, seeing action several times during his career, particularly with...
in at the bombardment of French vessels at 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...
. The bomb vessels' shells and carcasses set the town on fire on 23 July. On 1 August, the vessels kept a continuous fire for three hours. Still, it is not clear that the bombardment did much damage to the French flotilla.
On 20 July 1804, Zebra, under the command of William Beauchamp
Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 3rd Baronet
Admiral Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 3rd Baronet was an officer in the Royal Navy.The son of Sir Thomas Beauchamp-Proctor, 2nd Baronet and Mary Palmer, he succeeded to his father's baronetcy on 29 June 1827....
, was in the company of hired armed cutter Favorite and some other vessels when Zebra captured the Shepherdess. Nine days later, Zebra, captured the Postillion.
Zebra was recommissioned in August 1804 under Commander William Parkinson. Lieutenant George Harris replaced him in 1805. His replacement, in March 1806, was Commander Thomas Whinyates. Under Whinyates Zebra was on the North Sea station. Commander William Bowles took over in 1807.
The Zebra then returned to Copenhagen for the second battle of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...
in 1807. Zebra joined the "Advanced Squadron", which was protecting the batteries the British were building to support their attack on the city. On 17 August, the bomb vessels opened fire on the city's flotilla of row boats whose fire was harassing the left of the British line. Zebra was one of several vessels sharing in the capture of the Danish merchant vessel Sally on 22 August. On 2 September, the bomb vessels joined the land-based mortar batteries in bombarding Copenhagen. The bombardment set the town on fire and the Danes finally asked for an armistice on 5 September. The prize money for Copenhagen to an ordinary seaman was £3 8s.
On 20 June 1808, Zebra was under the command of Thomas R. Toker when she captured the Danish sloop Emenzius. Commander George Trollope took command in January 1809.