John Perkins (Royal Navy officer)
Encyclopedia
Captain
John Perkins, Royal Navy
(d. 27 January 1812) was a British naval officer.
Perkins, nicknamed Jack Punch, was the first black commissioned officer in the Royal Navy. He rose from obscurity to be one of the most successful ship captains of the Georgian
navy. He captained a 10-gun schooner during the American War of Independence and in a two year period captured at least 315 enemy ships.
Later in his career Perkins acted for the navy as a spy
and undertook missions to Cuba
and Saint Domingue (modern day Haiti
). At the start of the slave revolt in Saint Domingue
he was captured in Cap-François
and sentenced to death for supplying the rebel slave army with weapons.
After his rescue he was promoted commander in 1797 and then to post-captain
in 1800. Perkins went on to cause an international incident with the Danish
when he fired on two of their ships during peacetime. Toward the end of his career he captured the islands of Saint Eustatia and Saba from the French. The islands form part of the Netherlands Antilles
. Perkins also attacked a 74-gun ship-of-the-line with a 32-gun frigate
.
in the middle of the 18th century. Very little is known of his birth or early life but several contemporary accounts describe him as mulatto
(mixed race).
In 1775 Perkins first appears in the records of the Royal Navy when he was appointed to the 50-gun , the flagship
of the commander-in-chief of the Jamaica station as an extra pilot
. "His knowledge of the different ports, &C. in the West Indies was, perhaps, seldom equalled, and never surpassed."
In 1778 he was placed in command of the schooner
Punch, a ship probably armed with ten two or four pound cannons, though no detailed records survive. At this time he received his nickname Jack Punch, most probably earned because of the name of his command. During the next two years Perkins captured 315 ships an average of three per week, a claim that was later endorsed by the Jamaican House of Assembly
.
Admiral Sir Peter Parker
, and subsequent admirals, used Perkins in clandestine missions against the French at Cap-François, a province in the South West of Saint Domingue, and the Spanish in Havana
, Cuba. Parker eventually commissioned Perkins as a lieutenant
and gave him command of the schooner . The 12-gun Endeavour was an American built schooner with a keel
of 60 feet and beam
of 20. Governor Archibald Campbell
stated in a letter of recommendation that "By the gallant exertions of this officer some hundred vessels were taken, burnt, or destroyed, and above three thousand men added to the list of prisoners of war in favour of Britain; in short, the character and conduct of Captain Perkins were not less admired by his superior officers in Jamaica, than respected by those of the enemy."
In 1782 Perkins captured a much larger vessel containing several important French officers. The commander of the Jamaica station, Admiral George Rodney
, promoted Perkins to master and commander of the Endeavour, and added two guns to her raising her armament to fourteen guns, thus putting her on the official Navy List as a sloop-of-war
. Rodney's promotion of Perkins was disallowed. Rodney wrote later to Philip Stephens, First Secretary to the Admiralty, in an attempt to confirm the promotion. "I must therefore desire you will please represent to their Lordships, that on my arrival at Jamaica, I found Mr. Perkins lieutenant and commander of the Endeavour schooner – that he bore an excellent character, and had done great service." Despite his request Perkins was demoted back to the rank of lieutenant and the guns ordered to be removed. At the end of the American War of Independence he was "on the beach" (meaning that he was without a posting on a ship) as a half-pay
lieutenant.
For several years between 1783 and 1790 Perkins disappeared from the books of the Royal Navy. It may be during this time that he turned to piracy
as there is a French source and several English records that describe him as such.
In 1790, fifteen years after he had first joined the navy, Perkins made an application to the Jamaican House of Assembly for their assistance in achieving his promotion. After presenting his certificates to the assembly, the assembly investigated Perkins’ claim and resolved to make an application to the Admiralty
for his promotion to post-captain
.
of the 32-gun frigate , on a relief mission to the authorities on Saint Domingue, was informed that a British officer was under arrest and due to be executed in Jérémie
for supplying arms to the rebel slaves. Officially Britain and France were not at war and Russell requested that Perkins be released. The French authorities promised that he would be and then later refused. After numerous letters had been exchanged Russell determined that the French had no intention to release Perkins. Russell sailed around Cap-Français to Jérémie and met with the 12-gun under Captain Nowell. It was agreed that Nowell's first lieutenant, an officer named Godby, would go ashore and recover Perkins whilst the two ships remained offshore within cannon shot, ready to land an invasion force if need be. Lieutenant Godby landed and after negotiations Perkins was released. Perkins then disappears once more from the records for a short time.
. At the time some forty five vessels lay in harbour and these were all made prizes. In 1796 Marie Antoinette made up part of a small squadron that captured the schooner Charlotte and brig Sally. Perkins remained with her until he was promoted master and commander.
of 14 guns. In Drake Perkins captured four French corvettes, the 18-gun Egyptienne, the 16-gun Eole, the 12-gun Levrier and the 8-gun Vengeur in company with , Captain Poyntz, on 24 November 1799 off Cape Tiburon.
Subsequently HMS Drake, in company with a squadron under Captain Hugh Pigot
consisting of the 32-gun frigates and , and the cutter , were involved in the cutting out of eight enemy ships at Port-de-Paix
on 20 April 1797. On 25 October 1798 Drake captured the French privateer
La Favorite. The prize money
for Perkins (amounting to 2/8 of the total value of the vessel) was 53 pounds 13 shillings and 9 pence. In inflationary terms this would be approximately £ as of 20.
in the 32-gun frigate . In early 1801 Perkins moved to the 22-gun .
Lougen
, under the command of Captain C.W. Jessen
, and the schooner
Den Aarvaagne. Arab approached the two Danish vessels and, according to Danish accounts, without warning, fired several broadsides at Lougen before the Danish ship was able to return fire. Lougen, which had escaped serious damage, began to return fire steadily. Experiment initially attempted to capture Aarvaagne, but Aarvaagne obeyed orders to stay out of the fight and instead escaped south to Christiansted on St Croix
with its intelligence on British actions. Experiment then joined Arab in the attack on Lougen, with the two British ships sandwiching the Danish ship. During the engagement, which lasted for over an hour, one of Lougens shots struck the Arabs cathead
and loosed the bower anchor. (Perkin's reported that it was the first shot from Lougen that loosed the bower anchor.) Arabs crew was unable to cut the anchor free, leaving Arab unable to manoeuvre effectively. This allowed Jessen to steer a course that brought him under the protection of the shore batteries and then into St Thomas
. Captain Jessen of the Lougen was awarded a presentation sword made of gold, a medal and 400 rixdollar
s (the equivalent of a whole year's salary for a Captain in the Danish Navy) by the Danish government for his actions.
On 13 April 1801 Arab captured the Spanish Privateer Duenda.
Richard Blunt and a detachment of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), laid siege to and captured the wealthy islands of Sint Eustatius and Saba, capturing their French garrisons, forty-seven cannon
and 338 barrels of gunpowder
. Eustatia had been the most profitable of the islands in the Dutch West Indies.
After several further cruises Perkins was transferred in 1802 into the 32-gun frigate .
, La Surveillante
, La Vertu, and Le Cerf. La Surveillante and La Clorinde were bought into British service. La Surveillante had on board at her surrender General Rochambeau
the commander of the French forces on Saint-Domingue. On 25 July 1804, while in company with under Captain James Walker
, Tartar was involved in the capture of the French 74-gun ship of the line Duquesne
, and two 16-gun brigs sailing with her. Tartar outsailed her larger companions and kept the Duquesne and her consorts engaged until the larger British ships came up and the French squadron surrendered. A seaman's share of the prize money
aboard the Tartar for the capture was 6 shillings and 8 pence. A petty officer's
share was 1 pound
, 13 shillings and 11 pence.
, the commander of the slave rebellion in Haiti
declared independence from France. Perkins was sent by Admiral Duckworth
and Governor Nugent in Tartar as a British observer to the island. Perkins was accompanied by Edward Corbet. Corbet was a government advisor appointed by Nugent. Perkins described the situation on Haiti in his official letters to the Admiral. "I assure you that it is horrid to view the streets in different places stained with the Blood of these unfortunate people, whose bodies are now left exposed to view by the river and sea side. In hauling the seine the evening we came to our anchor several bodies got entangled in it, in fact such scenes of cruelty and devastation have been committed as is impossible to imagine or my pen describe."
" and that this was the cause of his demise.
There is no record of a wife and the records concerning his estate have disappeared. One article makes mention that during his life Perkins managed to father over one hundred illegitimate children although no records of them exist.
His obituary in the Naval Chronicle described his actions while in command of the schooner Punch:
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
John Perkins, 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...
(d. 27 January 1812) was a British naval officer.
Perkins, nicknamed Jack Punch, was the first black commissioned officer in the Royal Navy. He rose from obscurity to be one of the most successful ship captains of the Georgian
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
navy. He captained a 10-gun schooner during the American War of Independence and in a two year period captured at least 315 enemy ships.
Later in his career Perkins acted for the navy as a spy
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and undertook missions to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Saint Domingue (modern day Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
). At the start of the slave revolt in Saint Domingue
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
he was captured in Cap-François
Grand'Anse Department
Grand'Anse is one of the ten administrative departments of Haiti. Its capital is Jérémie.-History:...
and sentenced to death for supplying the rebel slave army with weapons.
After his rescue he was promoted commander in 1797 and then to post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
in 1800. Perkins went on to cause an international incident with the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
when he fired on two of their ships during peacetime. Toward the end of his career he captured the islands of Saint Eustatia and Saba from the French. The islands form part of the Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
. Perkins also attacked a 74-gun ship-of-the-line with a 32-gun 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"...
.
Early life and career
John Perkins was probably born in Kingston, JamaicaKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
in the middle of the 18th century. Very little is known of his birth or early life but several contemporary accounts describe him as mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
(mixed race).
In 1775 Perkins first appears in the records of the Royal Navy when he was appointed to the 50-gun , the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the commander-in-chief of the Jamaica station as an extra pilot
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
. "His knowledge of the different ports, &C. in the West Indies was, perhaps, seldom equalled, and never surpassed."
In 1778 he was placed in command of the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Punch, a ship probably armed with ten two or four pound cannons, though no detailed records survive. At this time he received his nickname Jack Punch, most probably earned because of the name of his command. During the next two years Perkins captured 315 ships an average of three per week, a claim that was later endorsed by the Jamaican House of Assembly
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....
.
Admiral Sir Peter Parker
Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet was a British naval officer.-Naval career:Peter Parker was born probably in Ireland. He became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1743 and captain in 1747. In 1761, he took command of HMS Buckingham and helped cover operations on Belle Île...
, and subsequent admirals, used Perkins in clandestine missions against the French at Cap-François, a province in the South West of Saint Domingue, and the Spanish in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba. Parker eventually commissioned Perkins as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
and gave him command of the schooner . The 12-gun Endeavour was an American built schooner with a keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
of 60 feet and beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 20. Governor Archibald Campbell
Archibald Campbell (British Army officer)
General Sir Archibald Campbell KB served as Governor of Jamaica and Madras. He was a major Scottish landowner, Heritable Usher of the White Rod for Scotland and a Member of Parliament for the Stirling Burghs.-Birth:...
stated in a letter of recommendation that "By the gallant exertions of this officer some hundred vessels were taken, burnt, or destroyed, and above three thousand men added to the list of prisoners of war in favour of Britain; in short, the character and conduct of Captain Perkins were not less admired by his superior officers in Jamaica, than respected by those of the enemy."
In 1782 Perkins captured a much larger vessel containing several important French officers. The commander of the Jamaica station, Admiral George 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...
, promoted Perkins to master and commander of the Endeavour, and added two guns to her raising her armament to fourteen guns, thus putting her on the official Navy List as a sloop-of-war
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...
. Rodney's promotion of Perkins was disallowed. Rodney wrote later to Philip Stephens, First Secretary to the Admiralty, in an attempt to confirm the promotion. "I must therefore desire you will please represent to their Lordships, that on my arrival at Jamaica, I found Mr. Perkins lieutenant and commander of the Endeavour schooner – that he bore an excellent character, and had done great service." Despite his request Perkins was demoted back to the rank of lieutenant and the guns ordered to be removed. At the end of the American War of Independence he was "on the beach" (meaning that he was without a posting on a ship) as a half-pay
Half-pay
In the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, half-pay referred to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service....
lieutenant.
For several years between 1783 and 1790 Perkins disappeared from the books of the Royal Navy. It may be during this time that he turned to piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
as there is a French source and several English records that describe him as such.
In 1790, fifteen years after he had first joined the navy, Perkins made an application to the Jamaican House of Assembly for their assistance in achieving his promotion. After presenting his certificates to the assembly, the assembly investigated Perkins’ claim and resolved to make an application to the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
for his promotion to post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
.
Capture on Saint Domingue
In 1790 Perkins volunteered once more and served under Admiral Philip Affleck. For several years there is no record that he held an official command but in 1792 Captain Thomas McNamara RussellThomas McNamara Russell
Vice-Admiral Thomas McNamara Russell was an admiral in the Royal Navy. Russell's naval career spanned the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic War....
of the 32-gun frigate , on a relief mission to the authorities on Saint Domingue, was informed that a British officer was under arrest and due to be executed in Jérémie
Jérémie
Jérémie is the capital city of the department of Grand'Anse, in Haiti, with a population of about 31,000 . It is almost isolated from the rest of the country...
for supplying arms to the rebel slaves. Officially Britain and France were not at war and Russell requested that Perkins be released. The French authorities promised that he would be and then later refused. After numerous letters had been exchanged Russell determined that the French had no intention to release Perkins. Russell sailed around Cap-Français to Jérémie and met with the 12-gun under Captain Nowell. It was agreed that Nowell's first lieutenant, an officer named Godby, would go ashore and recover Perkins whilst the two ships remained offshore within cannon shot, ready to land an invasion force if need be. Lieutenant Godby landed and after negotiations Perkins was released. Perkins then disappears once more from the records for a short time.
Return to service
In September 1793 Perkins returned to the books of the Navy. Perkins is listed as commanding , a 4 gun sloop. He accompanied Commodore John Ford's squadron when the British, at the request of French Royalists mounted a campaign against Saint-Domingue. On arrival Ford's squadron captured amongst other vessels a schooner belonging to the French Navy named Convention Nationale. She was renamed and Ford gave command of her to Perkins. Ford described Perkins as "an Officer of Zeal, Vigilance and Activity." In 1794 Marie Antoinette made up part of the squadron commanded by the newly promoted Rear-Admiral Ford that accompanied Brigadier-General John Whyte that briefly captured Port-au-PrincePort-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
. At the time some forty five vessels lay in harbour and these were all made prizes. In 1796 Marie Antoinette made up part of a small squadron that captured the schooner Charlotte and brig Sally. Perkins remained with her until he was promoted master and commander.
Promotion to commander
It is unrecorded the circumstances of his promotion but in 1797 Admiral Sir Hyde Parker promoted Perkins to commander of , a brigBrig
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...
of 14 guns. In Drake Perkins captured four French corvettes, the 18-gun Egyptienne, the 16-gun Eole, the 12-gun Levrier and the 8-gun Vengeur in company with , Captain Poyntz, on 24 November 1799 off Cape Tiburon.
Subsequently HMS Drake, in company with a squadron under Captain Hugh Pigot
Hugh Pigot (Royal Navy captain)
Hugh Pigot was an officer in the Royal Navy. Through his connections and their patronage he was able to rise to the rank of captain, despite apparently poor leadership skills and a reputation for brutality. While he was captain of Hermione he eventually provoked his men to mutiny...
consisting of the 32-gun frigates and , and the cutter , were involved in the cutting out of eight enemy ships at Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix is a city and the capital of the département of Nord-Ouest in Haïti on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of 250,000 ....
on 20 April 1797. On 25 October 1798 Drake captured the French 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...
La Favorite. The prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
for Perkins (amounting to 2/8 of the total value of the vessel) was 53 pounds 13 shillings and 9 pence. In inflationary terms this would be approximately £ as of 20.
Promotion to post-captain
Perkins was promoted on 6 September 1800 to post-captainPost-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
in the 32-gun frigate . In early 1801 Perkins moved to the 22-gun .
Battle of West Kay
In March 1801 Arab, in company with the 18-gun British privateer Experiment, caught and challenged two Danish vessels, the brigBrig
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...
Lougen
HDMS Lougen (1791)
The first Lougen was a brig of 18 guns, launched in 1791. She was active protecting Danish merchant shipping and suppressing pirates in the Mediterranean and in the Caribbean...
, under the command of Captain C.W. Jessen
Carl Wilhelm Jessen
This article contains material translated from the Danish article: Carl Wilhelm JessenCarl Wilhelm Jessen was a Danish naval officer and Governor of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies.-Career:...
, and the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Den Aarvaagne. Arab approached the two Danish vessels and, according to Danish accounts, without warning, fired several broadsides at Lougen before the Danish ship was able to return fire. Lougen, which had escaped serious damage, began to return fire steadily. Experiment initially attempted to capture Aarvaagne, but Aarvaagne obeyed orders to stay out of the fight and instead escaped south to Christiansted on St Croix
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...
with its intelligence on British actions. Experiment then joined Arab in the attack on Lougen, with the two British ships sandwiching the Danish ship. During the engagement, which lasted for over an hour, one of Lougens shots struck the Arabs cathead
Cathead
A cathead is a large wooden beam located on either bow of a sailing ship, and angled outward at roughly 45 degrees. The beam is used to support the ship's anchor when raising it or lowering it , and for carrying the anchor on its stock-end when suspended outside the ship's side...
and loosed the bower anchor. (Perkin's reported that it was the first shot from Lougen that loosed the bower anchor.) Arabs crew was unable to cut the anchor free, leaving Arab unable to manoeuvre effectively. This allowed Jessen to steer a course that brought him under the protection of the shore batteries and then into 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...
. Captain Jessen of the Lougen was awarded a presentation sword made of gold, a medal and 400 rixdollar
Rixdollar
Rixdollar is the English term for silver coinage used throughout the European continent .The same term was also used of currency in Cape Colony and Ceylon. However, the Rixdollar only existed as a coin in Ceylon. Unissued remainder banknotes for the Cape of Good Hope denominated in Rixdollars...
s (the equivalent of a whole year's salary for a Captain in the Danish Navy) by the Danish government for his actions.
On 13 April 1801 Arab captured the Spanish Privateer Duenda.
Capture of Saint Eustatia and Saba Islands
On 16 April 1801 Perkins, in company with ColonelColonel
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...
Richard Blunt and a detachment of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), laid siege to and captured the wealthy islands of Sint Eustatius and Saba, capturing their French garrisons, forty-seven cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
and 338 barrels of gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
. Eustatia had been the most profitable of the islands in the Dutch West Indies.
After several further cruises Perkins was transferred in 1802 into the 32-gun frigate .
Later career
Between 20 November and 4 December 1803 Tartar was in company with Captain Loring's squadron when the squadron captured the French ships of war Le Decouverte, La ClorindeFrench frigate Clorinde (1801)
The Clorinde was a 44-gun Uranie class frigate of the French Navy.She was laid down as Havraise in 1796, and was renamed to Clorinde before her commissioning in Nantes. In 1801, she was under Emmanuel Halgan....
, La Surveillante
French frigate Surveillante (1802)
The Surveillante entered service as a 40-gun Virginie class frigate of the French Navy. She was surrendered to the British in 1803, after which she served in the Royal Navy, classed under the British system as a 38 gun vessel, until 1814 when she was decommissioned...
, La Vertu, and Le Cerf. La Surveillante and La Clorinde were bought into British service. La Surveillante had on board at her surrender General Rochambeau
Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau
Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau was a French soldier, the son of Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau....
the commander of the French forces on Saint-Domingue. On 25 July 1804, while in company with under Captain James Walker
James Walker (Royal Navy officer)
James Walker CB, CavTe was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, rising to the rank of Rear-Admiral....
, Tartar was involved in the capture of the French 74-gun ship of the line Duquesne
French ship Duquesne (1787)
The Duquesne was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.It directed in 1793, under captain Vence, an important convoy of Levant then escaped the hostile monitoring from a squadron Anglo-Spanish....
, and two 16-gun brigs sailing with her. Tartar outsailed her larger companions and kept the Duquesne and her consorts engaged until the larger British ships came up and the French squadron surrendered. A seaman's share of the prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
aboard the Tartar for the capture was 6 shillings and 8 pence. A petty officer's
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
share was 1 pound
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
, 13 shillings and 11 pence.
Final mission to Haiti
In January 1804 Jean-Jacques DessalinesJean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution. Initially regarded as Governor-General, Dessalines later named himself Emperor Jacques I of Haiti...
, the commander of the slave rebellion in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
declared independence from France. Perkins was sent by Admiral Duckworth
John Thomas Duckworth
Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British naval officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his...
and Governor Nugent in Tartar as a British observer to the island. Perkins was accompanied by Edward Corbet. Corbet was a government advisor appointed by Nugent. Perkins described the situation on Haiti in his official letters to the Admiral. "I assure you that it is horrid to view the streets in different places stained with the Blood of these unfortunate people, whose bodies are now left exposed to view by the river and sea side. In hauling the seine the evening we came to our anchor several bodies got entangled in it, in fact such scenes of cruelty and devastation have been committed as is impossible to imagine or my pen describe."
Retirement and death
In March 1804 Perkins resigned his commission on health grounds. It is rumoured that Perkins finally visited England in 1805 although there is no supporting evidence for this. There is no further record of his involvement with the Navy or Haiti. Perkins died on 27 January 1812 at his home in Jamaica. According to his obituary he suffered for many years with a condition described as "asthmaAsthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
" and that this was the cause of his demise.
There is no record of a wife and the records concerning his estate have disappeared. One article makes mention that during his life Perkins managed to father over one hundred illegitimate children although no records of them exist.
His obituary in the Naval Chronicle described his actions while in command of the schooner Punch:
External links
- Battle of the West Kay 1801, An account of the battle between HMS Arab and the Danish Brig Lougen;
- The Rise of Emperor Dessalines including letters from Perkins to Admiral Duckworth 1804;
- Ships of the Old Navy HMS Tartar;
- HM Sloop Endeavour;
- HMS Arab;
- HMS Drake;
- HMS Meleager
- HMS Ferret. The ship under Lieutenant Nowell that rescued Perkins from execution on Saint Domingue in 1791;
- National Maritime Museum;
- The Institute of Jamaica;