HMS Pelorus (1808)
 HMS Pelorus, as a ship-sloop, ca. 1830 | |
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Cruizer class brig-sloop |
| Name: | HMS Pelorus |
| Builder: | Itchenor, England |
| Launched: | 25 June 1808 |
| Fate: |
Wrecked, 25 November 1839; refloated Sold, 1842 Wrecked, 25 December 1844 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 385 bm |
| Length: | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Beam: | 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m) |
| Complement: | 121 |
| Armament: | 16 × 32 pdr (15 kg) carronades, 2 × 6 pdr (2.7 kg) guns |
HMS Pelorus was a 385-ton, 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built in Itchenor, England and launched on 25 June 1808. She saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and in the War of 1812. On anti-slaverly patrol off West Africa, she captured four slavers and freed some 1350 slaves. She charted parts of Australia and New Zealand and participated in the first Opium War before becoming a merchantman and wrecking in 1844 while transporting opium to China.
Contents
Napoleonic Wars
Pelorus was commissioned in July 1808 under Commander James William King, and sailed for the Leeward Islands on 15 December.[1] In January 1809, under Cdr. Thomas Huskinson, she participated at the capture of Martinique.[1] She then took part in enforcing the blockade of Guadaloupe. On 16 October, Pelorus and Hazard discovered a privateer schooner moored under the St Mary battery. Pelorus destroyed the battery with gunfire while boats from both ships boarded the privateer. Unable to move the prize, they instead blew her up.[2]
In 1810, under Cdr. Alexander Kennedy, she patrolled the Leeward Islands. In May, command transferred to Cdr. Joshua Rowley, who sailed for the Mediterranean about a year later.[1] In late December 1811 and early 1812, Pelorus was cruising off Plymouth. On 6 January, she sent in a French chasse maree that she had taken. The next day, Deux Freres, from Lorient, which she had recently taken came into port. In September 1812, her captain was Commander Robert Gambier.[1]
By 1814, her captain was Commander Robert Stow. On 7 March 1814, the boats of Pelorus, Endymion and Rattler captured an American privateer — the 15-gun vessel Mars — with 70 men. In September, she was under the command of Cdr. John Gourly. A year later she was paid off a Plymouth where she underwent a Middling Repair before she was laid up.[1]
Return to service
She was fitted for sea from April-August 1823, Cdr. William Hamley having recommissioned her in April. In 1824, she was at Cork on coast guard duties. At the beginning of October, she captured a small smuggling lugger. From July-October 1826, she underwent alteration from a brig-sloop to a ship-sloop via the addition of a third mast.[2]
Mediterranean
Then in October, Cdr. Peter recommissioned her. In January 1827, Pelorus was employed in the Mediterranean protecting British trade in the Archipelago, at Alexandria, and around the coasts of Syria and Caramania. Cdr. Michael Quinn took command from September 1828. In December 1829, she struck a rock at the entrance of Port Mahon, Minorca and was bilged. Isis came from Gibraltar to retrieve her officers and crew. By 9 May 1830, Pelorus was back in Portsmouth. From December 1830-December 1831, she underwent repairs and an alteration back to a brig.[1]
Anti-slavery
In 1831, William Wilberforce's anti-slavery law was passed. In September, Captain Richard Meredith recommissioned Pelorus and joined the West Africa Squadron. Here she patrolled the west coast of Africa to suppress the slave trade. On 9 May 1832, she was at Sierra Leone having brought in the Spanish slaving vessel Theresa Secunda, which was carrying 460 slaves.[Note 1]
On 16 June 1834, a court martial was held on Lieutenant Philip de Sausmarez of Pelorus. He was charged with having, on 18 April 1832, while in command of a prize crew on the slaver Segunda Theresa, punished Francis Brown with 24 lashes for neglect of duty, the punishment being carried out by the boatswain's mate of Lynx at Sierra Leone. The punishment was contrary to Meredith's written orders. The court decided that the lieutenant had been justified in having recourse to such punishment. Sausmarez had been under arrest for 18 months before his exoneration.[3][Note 2]
On 30 June, boats from Pelorus captured the Spanish slaver Pepita. Unfortunately, at the time of her capture, the slaver had no slaves aboard. Under the terms of the treaty with Spain, vessels could only be seized when actually carrying slaves. The boarding party manufactured evidence by dropping three slaves aboard Pepita after boarding her. They then loaded 176 slaves that were on shore waiting to be loaded. Meredith accepted responsibility for the manufacturing of evidence. The Court in Sierra Leone therefore had to order Pepita returned to her master.[4] Pepita's master then sued for damages. The Court found against Meredith and charged him £1092 in damages.[5]
On 17 December, Pelorus captured the two-gun slaver Sutil. She had 307 slaves aboard, of whom 91 died of dysentery and disease before they could be freed in Sierra Leone.[6]
On 5 January 1835, boats from Pelorus captured the Spanish polacca-bark Minerva, two 18 pdr (8.2 kg) and two 8 pdr (3.6 kg). The boats had sailed 60 mi (97 km) up the Calabar river and laid in ambush. Skillful handling resulted in the capture of the slaver with no casualties to the boarding party although the vessel's guns were double-shotted and the crew and the boarding party exchanged small arms fire. The vessel had a crew of 37 men, two of whom were cut down. The boarding party consisted of 22 men. The slaver had some 650 slaves aboard, and after her capture, the master arrived with 25 more. In sum, she had 676 aboard, of whom 206 died of disease before they could be freed in Sierra Leone.[7]
On 26 September, Pelorous was paid off at Portsmouth. A bounty was paid on both Sutil and Minerva in June 1836.
Far East and Antipodes
On 31 January 1837, Pelorus was recommissioned under Captain Francis Harding who had taken commanded on 21 January. She then sailed for the Cape of Good Hope before returning to Portsmouth in June. Next, she sailed for western Australia and Van Diemen's Land, and in August to New Zealand to conduct a survey of the Marlborough Sounds region.
On 16 December, Pelorus — under Cdr. Harding — called at the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and stayed for six days. Captain John Clunies-Ross — the "King of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands" — had asked for a visit from a naval vessel to forestall a possible revolt by the inhabitants.
Early in 1838, Pelorus may have sailed to Rangoon. In May-June, she visited Adelaide and Sydney. Later, she may have sailed with Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Maitland's squadron from Singapore to Canton to deal with a 'serious interruption on the part of the Chinese authorities to the continuation of the opium-trade with the British merchants'.[8] If so, she was not with Maitland during his dealings with Admiral Guan TianPei (Kwan T'ien-P'ei).[9]
On 22 August, Pelorus sailed into Port Underwood, New Zealand, and cast anchor in Oyster Cove. She was under the temporary command of Lt. Phillip Chetwode while Commander Harding was ill. From here, Chetwode surveyed and named Pelorus River and Pelorus Sound in New Zealand in honour of his ship. He also named the Chetwode Islands, off Pelorus Sound.
On 27 July 1839, Lt. Augustus Leopold Kuper was nominated acting commander of Pelorus.
Wrecked in New South Wales
On 25 November 1839, while anchored off Port Essington, Australia, a hurricane struck Pelorus, wrecking her. She lost 12 of her crew; a whaleboat from Britomart — under Captain Owen Stanley — rescued the survivors. According to Kuper, "Pelorus was buried 9 feet in the mud for 86 days."
Opium War
On 5 March 1840, Kuper was promoted to command of Alligator. On 26 December, Lt. Kuper was promoted to the rank of Commander, his commission being back-dated to when he took command of Pelorus.
After repairs, in late July 1840, Pelorus sailed from Sydney with Herald to take part in the first Opium War. On 23 April 1841, she arrived at Singapore. One month later, Lt. W. W. Chambers — of Wellesley — was appointed and promoted to be acting commander of Pelorus. At the time, Wellesley was at Canton.
Disposal and final loss
On 6 July 1841, Pelorus was laid up at Singapore. Lt. Chambers returned to Britain. The officers and crew transferred to the steam paddle and sail survey cutter Bentinck, which Commodore Sir J.J.G. Bremer had just purchased and which went on to operations in China.[10][11] An Admiralty Order of 16 October specified that Pelorus was to be sold, which took place in 1842.[1]
The purchasers may have been Pybus Brothers.[12] On 27 1843, under Captain Triggs, she arrived in Hong Kong with a load of opium.[12]
Pelorus sank on 25 December 1844 when she struck a shoal in lat. 8º 8' 30" N., long. 115º 30'E., off the coast of Borneo in the South China Sea. Captain Triggs took her gig and two passengers and sailed 100 mi (160 km) to Singapore. From there he led the steamer Victoria to the wreck. Victoria was able to rescue 20 of the crew and save 70 chests of opium.[13]
Commanding Officers
| From | To | Captain[14] |
|---|---|---|
| 1808 | Hon. J W King | |
| 18 January 1809 | Thomas Huskisson[15] | |
| 1811 | A Kennedy | |
| 11 March 1812 | R Rowley | |
| September 1812 | Robert Gambier | |
| 1814 | Arthur Stow | |
| 9 September 1814 | 1815 | John Gourly |
| 1816 | Laid up at Plymouth | |
| 23 April 1823 | William Hamley | |
| October 1826 | Peter Richards | |
| September 1828 | May 1830 | Michael Quin |
| 1834 | 26 September 1935 | Richard Meredith |
| 21 January 1837 | Francis Harding | |
| 27 July 1839 | 5 March 1840 | Augustus Leopold Kuper |
| 5 March 1840 | 22 May 1841 | ? |
| 22 May 1841 | 6 July 1841 | William Chambers |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Winfield (2008), p.299.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "HMS Pelorus website". http://hmspelorus.com/. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ↑ Nautical magazine and journal of the Royal Naval Reserve, Volume 3, p.443-4.
- ↑ Correspondence... (1836), pp.16-30.
- ↑ Correspondence... (1836), pp. 32-47.
- ↑ "Correspondence..." (1836), p.47-9.
- ↑ "Correspondence..." (1836), p.55-8.
- ↑ United service magazine No. 120, November 1838, p.401.
- ↑ Hoe and Roebuck (1999), pp. 65-6.
- ↑ [1] Naval Database
- ↑ The Nautical magazine (1842), Volume 10, (Glasgow: Brown, Son and Ferguson), p.871.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lubbock (1933), p.282.
- ↑ Singapore Free Press, January 25, 1845.
- ↑ "HMS Pelorus at the Age of Nelson website". http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=1677. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ↑ Thomas Huskisson in the Dictionary of National Biography, Wikisource, accessed October 2009
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Correspondence with the British Commissioners, at Sierra Leone, the Havana, Rio de Janeiro, and Surinam: relating to the slave trade, 1835 : presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty. (1836) (London: William Clowes and Sons).
- Hoe, Susanna and Derek Roebuck (1999) The Taking of Hong Kong: Charles and Clara Elliot in China Waters. (London: Taylor & Francis Group). ISBN 978-0-7007-1145-1
- Lubbock, Basil (1933) The Opium Clippers. (Glasgow: Brown, Son, & Ferguson).
- MacGregor, David R. (1997) The schooner: its design and development from 1600 to the present. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press). ISBN 978-1-55750-847-8
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
External links
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