HMS Pigeon (1805)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Pigeon |
| Ordered: | 11 December 1805 |
| Launched: | 1801 |
| Acquired: | ex-mercantile Fanny purchased 28 May 1805 |
| Commissioned: | May 1805 |
| Fate: | Wrecked 30 November 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Despatch cutter |
| Type: | Schooner |
| Tonnage: | 75 bm |
| Length: | 57 ft 7 in (17.55 m) |
| Beam: | 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Complement: | 17 |
| Armament: | 4 x 12-pounder carronades |
The Admiralty purchased HMS Pigeon on 28 May 1805 for use as a despatch cutter.[1] She was then fitted for foreign service at Deptford between 25 May and 10 August.
She was commissioned in May under Lieut. John Luckraft.[1] One of his first tasks was to pick up Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby from Tribune and to convey him up the Elbe River to Hamburg on a diplomatic mission.
Pigeon was wrecked off the Texel on 30 November while carrying despatches for Lieutenant General George Don at Bremerlehe.[2][Note 1] Her crew was saved, but became prisoners of the Dutch. Luckraft was freed the next year.
The court martial on 20 February 1806 found that it was pilot Robert Barron's inexperience that caused the wreck. However, the court also condemned the behavior of Luckraft before the ship was abandoned.[3]
Note
References
- Gossett, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
- O'Byrne, William R. (1849) A naval biographical dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. (London: J. Murray).
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
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