HMS Epervier (1803)
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Epervier |
| Builder: | Enterprise Crucy, Nantes |
| Laid down: | 1801 |
| Launched: | 30 June 1802 |
| Completed: | 1802 |
| Commissioned: | 20 July 1802 |
| Captured: | 27 July 1803, by the Royal Navy |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Epervier |
| Captured: | 27 July 1803 |
| Fate: | Scrapped June 1811 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Brig-sloop |
| Tonnage: | 315 tons (Builder's Old Measurement) |
| Length: | 95 ft (29 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Epervier (1803) was a French 16-gun Alcyon class brig. HMS Egyptienne captured her in the Atlantic Ocean on 27 July 1803 and the Royal Navy took her into service. Before being broken up in 1811 she captured two prizes and was present at the Battle of San Domingo.
French origins and capture
Epervier was an Alcyon class brig built between 1801 and 1802 by Enterprise Crucy Basse-Indree (Nantes) to a design by François Gréhan.[1] In French service she carried 16 small guns. She was launched on 30 June 1802.[2]
She was commissioned under Lieut. de vaisseau Halgan. At some point Jérôme Bonaparte boarded her. On 31 August 1802 she sailed from Nantes for Martinique and Guadeloupe.[2]
Captain Charles Fleeming (Fleming) and Egyptienne captured Epervier off the coast of France on 27 July 1803 as she was returning to Lorient from Guadeloupe. The Royal Navy took Epervier into service under her existing name.
British service
The British rearmed her, upgrading her battery substantially. Commander James Watson commissioned her in May 1804 and then in August Commander John Impey assumed command and sailed for Jamaica the next month.[1]
On 26 January 1805, Epervier was in the Leeward Islands, six miles from Crab Island. She went in chase of a strange sail to the southward and captured a French privateer schooner Elizabeth from Marie Galante.[1] Elizabeth was armed with four carriage guns and small arms. One of her crew of 34 was killed in the action. She had already taken a sloop from Tortola and sent her into St. Thomas.
On 25 May Epervier captured the Spanish schooner Casualidad, which was taking a cargo of cocoa from Puerto Cabello to Old Spain.
Lieutenant James Higginson assumed command in January 1806. On 6 February Epervier was with the squadron under Vice Admiral, Sir John Duckworth in Superb, which took or destroyed five sail of the line in the Battle of San Domingo. However, Epervier did not take part.
Commander Samuel J. Pechell assumed command of Epervier in March 1807 until April when John Bowker of San Josef was promoted from Lieutenant to the command. Ill health forced him to give up his command to Thomas Tudor Tucker from Curieux. He reassumed command in December, but then had to return home in February 1808. His successor was again Tucker until December when he removed to Cherub taking most of his officers and all his crew with him.
On 12 December she joined the ship-sloop Stork and the advice boat Express in an action against the French 16-gun schooner Cygne and two schooners off the Pearl Rock, Saint-Pierre, Martinique.[1] The action was inconclusive.
The next day the Cruizer class brig-sloop Amaranthe joined Circe and Stork in destroying the Cygne and the two other schooners. The French vessels had already inflicted heavy casualties on the British vessels before Amaranthe arrived. Fire from Amaranthe compelled the crew of Cygne to abandon her and Amaranthe's boats boarded and destroyed the French vessel. For her part Amaranthe lost one man killed and five wounded due to fire from batteries on the shore.
Amaranthe's boats, assisted by boats from Express, boarded the schooner and set fire to her too. This expedition cost Amaranthe her sailing master, Joshua Jones, who was severely wounded. The other British vessels that contributed boats also had casualties. Including the losses in the earlier fighting before Amaranthe arrived, the British had lost some 12 men killed, 31 wounded, and 26 missing (drowned or prisoners) for little gain. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "OFF THE PEARL ROCK 13 DECR. 1808" to the then living survivors of the battle.
Fate
Commanders Thomas Barclay and James P. Stewart commanded her briefly. Epervier was scrapped at Chatham Dockyard in June 1811.[1]
References
- Colledge, J.J. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of the Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87021-652-X.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005) Dictionnaire des Bâtiments de la Flotte de Guerre Française de Colbert à nos Jours. (Group Retozel-Maury Millau).
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
