HMS Basilisk (1801)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Basilisk |
| Ordered: | 7 January 1801 |
| Builder: | John Randall & Co., Rotherhithe |
| Laid down: | January 1801 |
| Launched: | 2 April 1801 (already coppered) |
| Completed: | 3 April to 19 April 1801 at Deptford |
| Struck: | sold 14 December 1815 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 12-gun Bloodhound-class gun-brig |
| Tons burthen: | 185 83/94 bm |
| Length: |
80 ft 1 in (24.4 m) (overall) 65 ft 7 in (20.0 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 23 ft 1 in (7.0 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 8 ft (2.438400 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Brig |
| Complement: | 50, including a detachment of 14 Royal Marines |
| Armament: | 10 x 18-pounder carronades + 2 x 18-pounder or 32-pounder carronades as chase (bow) guns |
HMS Basilisk (1801) was a Bloodhound Class gun-brig built by Randall in Rotherhithe and launched in 1801. She served during the Napoleonic Wars protecting convoys from privateers, conducting close-inshore surveillance and taking enemy coastal shipping. She served briefly at the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, with most of her service occurring during the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold for breaking up in 1815.
French Revolutionary Wars
In 1801 Basilisk was commissioned under of Lieutenant Samuel Gooch, in the Channel.[1] She served under Capt. Cunningham in the frigate Clyde, who was Senior Officer between Le Havre and the Île de Batz. On 16 August Basilisk and Bloodhound were anchored on station between Barfleur and Marcou and saw two brigs and seventeen gunvessels trying to round Cape Barfleur. Lieut. Gooch signalled to Capt. Donnelly of Maidstone, who took advantage of a light breeze to close with them. The enemy ran into a bay to the westward of the cape and anchored close in to the beach under cover of a battery and some field pieces. Basilisk and Bloodhound followed them in, anchored in two fathoms within 18-pounder range and maintained a spirited cannonade. Maidstone found it impossible to approach within range of her 12-pounders and signalled the others to retire. Later when the tide flooded the enemy weighed and rowed round the lighthouse, the three British vessels being unable to follow due to the wind and tide. When the enemy were not to be found in Isigny, nor within La Hogue, Capt. Cunningham concluded that they had run back to Cherbourg.[2]
Napoleonic Wars
From 1803 until about 1806 Basilisk was employed full time as one of the vessels confronting Napoleon's invasion flotilla. As part of the Downs Squadron, she was based principally at Deal, but also at Sheerness and nearby locations. Much of the time she was actually at sea, on the continental side of the channel, between Ostend and Dunkirk and to Boulogne.
In February 1803 Basilisk came under the command of Lieut. William Shepheard.[1] As part of the defence of the Thames Estuary against threats of invasion she and Conflict were stationed in Westgate Bay. Along with the sloop Diligence at Margate and the block-ship Texel, they were responsible for guarding Margate Roads. By July Basilisk was stationed off Dunkirk with Lynx and the schooner Millbrook.
During the winter of 1803-4 Lieut. Shepheard commanded a squadron of three brigs and a cutter, which comprised the whole blockading force between Boulogne and Ostend in the absence of the frigates. On 23 October 1804 Basilisk was in company with Immortalite and Orestes when they found three praams, seven brigs and 15 luggers off Cap Griznez which bore up to the westward keeping close inshore under cover of the batteries and horse artillery that followed them along the beach. Immortalite closed with the praams under the high land of Cap Blanc Nez, with Orestes and Basilisk joining in the attack. The running fight lasted for more than an hour before the falling tide forced the British to seek deeper water.[3]
At daylight on 18 December Shepheard chased a lugger off Calais and at noon came up with and captured the French national gunboat No. 436 armed with one brass 18-pounder and a howitzer.[1] The gunboat was under the command of Ensign de Vaisseau Lewis Sautoin and carried seven sailors and 27 soldiers of the 36 regiment of the line under a captain. She had sailed for Boulogne from Dunkirk the day before.[4] Lieut. Shepheard removed to the hired cutter Earl St Vincent and Lieutenant William Patey took command.[1]
On 14 October 1805, Basilisk, then under Lieutenant George Higgs, was in company with Furious and Ariadne when Furious captured the Cornelia. Prize money was due 13 January 1810.[5]
Around 1806 Basilisk was ordered north to be based at Leith in Scotland. On 30 September 1808, while under the temporary command of Sub-Lieutenenat Charles Balfour, she captured the privateer Don Flinnke of 4 guns and 24 men.[1] For the most part, Basilisk guarded convoys to the Shetlands and elsewhere. Then on 22 October, Basilisk and Spitfire sailed to the assistance of the sloop Cygnet, which the Dowlaw signal station, near Dunbar, reported had cut away her masts and bowsprit and thrown some of her guns overboard. Basilisk and Spitfire brought Cygnet back to Leith Roads.
Lieutenant Samuel Crew commanded Basilisk in 1809 and 1810. On 13 April 1809, Basilisk and Pincher took the Danish privateer Jonge Anna Catherina. In May, boats from Pincher and Basilisk captured a galliot laden with deals.[6]
In June 1809 Lord George Stuart placed Commander William Goate of Musquito in command of a small force consisting of Musquito, the two Cherokee class brig-sloops Briseis, Robert Pettet, and Ephira, Edward Watts, five gun-brigs, including Basilisk, one armed schuyt and a cutter. On 7 July they entered the Elbe and anchored out of gunshot of the battery at Cuxhaven.[2]
At daylight the following morning Goate, with the commanding officers, seamen and marines of their respective vessels, landed to attack the battery. However, the 80-man garrison retreated. The British loaded the battery’s six 24-pounders into vessels lying in the harbor, together with all the shot and military stores. They then blew up the fort. They also seized two French gunboats. The landing party handed the town of Cuxhaven back to the civil governor before they embarked.[2]
On 26 July French cavalry nearly captured several of the officers of the squadron in the village of Ritzbuttle. Lord Stuart then landed a detachment of seamen and marines to intercept them. When Stuart discovered that the French had retired to Gessendorf, some 26 miles from Cuxhaven, he ordered Goate to advance with his seamen and marines from Musquito while Pettet of Briseis moved round the flank to take a battery of four 12-pounders that was subjecting firing round shot and grape at Stuart and Watts. As soon as Goate and his landing party approached, the French evacuated Gessendorf in requisitioned wagons, covered by about 60 cavalry. The enemy artillerymen likewise abandoned their guns and escaped in boats on the Weser. The British captured the battery commander and three of his officers. The British burst the four 12-pounders and brought off the powder. The only British casualty was Watts, who had been wounded.[2]
On 16 March 1810, Lieutenant Crew sailed Basilisk for the Mediterranean, where she was involved in several actions in southwest Spain and elsewhere.[1] Lieutenant George Wood replaced Lieutenant Crew. In 1811 Lieut. Vallack was in command of Basilisk, with the British squadron at Cadiz. On 15 April a Spanish force left Cadiz to join General Beresford at the approaching siege of Badajos and the small vessels of the British squadron served to maintain communications. Lieut. Vallack and his boat's crew were all killed trying to cross the bar of the Guadiana River on this service. On 11 July 1811 Lieutenant George French took command.[1] He then sailed Basilisk to Portugal on 4 March 1812.[1]
In May 1812, Hyacinth and Termagant, Captains Thomas Ussher and Gawen William Rowan-Hamilton, and Basilisk supported Spanish guerrillas on the coast of Grenada, against the French. Termangant destroyed the castle at Nerja on 20 May. The British squadron then supported a guerrilla offensive against Almuñécar. On 24 May with Hyacinth and Termagant, Basilisk took a French privateer of two guns and 30 or 40 men under the castle. The British squadron bombarded the castle, breaching the walls. The French then retreated to Grenada.[7] Basilisk's only casualty was one man slightly wounded.
Basilisk was re-rated as a sloop in May 1815 and re-commissioned under the newly promoted Commander George French.[1]
Crew
While the captains of Basilisk changed regularly, some of the crew provided continuity. Royal Marine ABEL HELPS signed on to Basilisk May 29 1802 as a corporal (ADM 96/216), was raised to sergeant March 9 1805 (ADM 158/91), and disembarked at Portsmouth Oct 16 1809 (ADM 35/2625), meaning he was on board for 7 years 5 months. By Nov 4 1809 he had joined another ship, the frigate Nyaden 36.
Fate
From the spring of 1814 Basilisk, commanded by Lieut. Philip Anstruther, was used as a tender between Dublin and Plymouth. When Anstruther died in August, Lieutenant Abraham Pike took command.[1] She was sold for breaking up for ₤730, probably at Plymouth, on 14 December 1815.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Winfield (2008), p.335.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Phillips, Michael, Ships of the Old Navy.
- ↑ The European Magazine, 1804, p.385.
- ↑ The Naval chronicle, Vol. 11, p.65.
- ↑ [1],London Gazette
- ↑ The Edinburgh annual register, Vol. 2, p. 132.
- ↑ James (1837), Vol. 6, pp.63-4.
- James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.. 6. R. Bentley.
- Phillips, Michael: Ships of the Old Navy - HMS Basilisk (1801).[2]
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
