Heroina
Encyclopedia
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
that was operated as a 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...
under a license issued by the United Provinces of the River Plate (later Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
). It was under the command of American-born Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
David Jewett
David Jewett
Colonel David Jewett is a notable figure in the history of the sovereignty dispute between Great Britain and Argentina as he commanded the Frigate Heroína that visited the Falkland Islands in 1820 and raised the first Argentine flag on the islands....
and has become linked with the Argentine claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is disputed between Argentina and the United Kingdom.The British claim to de jure sovereignty dates from 1690, and the United Kingdom has exercised de facto sovereignty over the archipelago almost constantly since 1833...
. This stems from a ceremony that took place on 6 November 1820, where Jewett formally claimed the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
for the United Provinces.
The Buenos Aires businessman Patrick Lynch acquired the French frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Braque at some point in 1819/1820. The exact date is unknown with dates for the transaction ranging from August 1819 until January 1820. Initially it was planned to name the ship Tomás Guido but that name was considered inappropriate as Guido was still living at the time. After naming her Heroína and fitting out the ship to act as a 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...
, Lynch obtained a corsair license from the Buenos Aires Supreme Director José Rondeau
José Rondeau
José Casimiro Rondeau Pereyra was a general and politician in Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
. Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
David Jewett, an 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...
was given command of Heroína in 1820 and set out on a voyage marked by misfortune, a mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, and scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
.
In July 1820, Jewett captured the Portuguese frigate Carlota that was en-route to 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...
. In doing so, Jewett crossed the line between privateer and pirate, since his corsairs license restricted his activities to Spanish ships (the United Provinces of the River Plate were not at war with Portugal). Jewett continued to capture ships of other flags causing further controversy.
In August, the crew mutinied and Jewett was only able to restore order with the support of the soldiers on board. The leader of the mutiny, James Thomas, was executed. Following the mutiny there was an outbreak of scurvy at a time when the crew of the Heroína was depleted by the need to man the prize Carlota. A storm severely damaged the Heroína and sank the Carlota forcing Jewett to put into Puerto Soledad
Puerto Soledad
Puerto Soledad was a Spanish military outpost and penal colony on the Falkland Islands, situated at an inner cove of Berkeley Sound .-Port St...
for repairs.
Some 80 of the Heroína
Port Louis, Falkland Islands
Port Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad .-History:The settlement has seen several name changes...
by Argentine settlers in line with the original French name, it was at one-time Spanish capital of the Falkland Islands). There he found some fifty British and U.S. sealing
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
ships at anchor. Captain Jewett chose to rest and recover in the islands seeking assistance from the British explorer James Weddell
James Weddell
James Weddell was a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who in the early Spring of 1823 sailed to latitude of 74°15' S and into a region of the Southern Ocean that later became known as the Weddell Sea.-Early life:He entered the merchant service very...
. Weddell reports only 30 seamen and 40 soldiers out of a crew of 200 fit for duty, and how Jewett slept with pistols over his head following an attempted mutiny. Whilst in the Falkland Islands, there was a further attempt at mutiny with the crew eager to return to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
On 6 November 1820, Col Jewett raised the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate and claimed possession of the islands. Weddell reports the letter he received from Jewett as:
Many modern authors report this letter as the declaration issued by David Jewett. Weddell did not believe that Jewett was acting with the interests of the United Provinces of the River Plate in mind, rather Jewett had merely put into the harbour in order to obtain refreshments for his crew, and that the assumption of possession was chiefly intended for the purpose of securing an exclusive claim to the wreck of the French ship Uranie that had a few mouths previously foundered at the entrance of Berkeley Sound
Berkeley Sound
Berkeley Sound is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French....
. Weddell left the islands on 20 November 1820 noting that Jewett had not completed repairs to the Heroína. On leaving the Islands, Jewett took the American schooner Rampart as a prize, an incident that had diplomatic repercussions with the United States of America.
In February 1821, Jewett was relieved of command being replaced by Guillermo Roberto Mason. On June 14, 1821 Heroína captured the Spanish brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Maipú, which was incorporated into the flotilla. Mason also attacked and seized the Portuguese ships Viscondesa and Providencia before putting into Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
for repairs.
On the 20th March 1822 the Heroína was met by the Portuguese 44 gun frigate Pérola off Gibraltar. The Pérola managed to approach the Heroína and fired a broadside at point-blank range
Point-blank range
In external ballistics, point-blank range is the distance between a firearm and a target of a given size such that the bullet in flight is expected to strike the target without adjusting the elevation of the firearm. The point-blank range will vary with the firearm and its particular ballistic...
, ravaging the deck on the Heroína and forcing Mason to surrender. The Heroína was taken to Lisbon as a prize. For his action the Portuguese commander, captain Marçal de Ataíde Barahona, was made a knight of the Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit
Order of the Tower and Sword
The Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit is a Portuguese order of knighthood and the pinnacle of the Portuguese honours system. It was created by King Afonso V in 1459....
. The actions of the Heroína in seizing Portuguese ships combined with the fact that the Portuguese government, as most European governments at the time, had not yet recognised the United Provinces of the River Plate as an independent
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
and legitimate state led to her being labelled as a pirate ship.
Mason was held by Portugal for two years before returning to Buenos Aires.