HMS Grouper (1804)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Grouper |
| Ordered: | 23 June 1803 |
| Builder: | Goodrich & Co. (prime contractor), Bermuda |
| Laid down: | 1803 |
| Launched: | 1804 |
| Honours and awards: | Naval General Service Medal with clasp "GUADALOUPE" |
| Fate: | Wrecked 21 October 1811 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ballahoo-class schooner |
| Tonnage: | 70 41/94 bm |
| Length: |
55 ft 2 in (16.81 m) (overall) 40 ft 10.5 in (12.5 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 18 ft 0 in (5.49 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Schooner |
| Complement: | 20 |
| Armament: | 4 x 12-pounder Carronades |
HMS Grouper (1804) was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of 4 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1804.[1] This schooner was the only Royal Navy ship ever to use the name.
She was commissioned under Lieut. Provo Hughes for the Leeward Islands. In 1807 her commander was Lieut. C. Fitch, and then in 1809 she came under the command of Lieut. James Atkins. Grouper participated in the capture of Guadeloupe and its dependencies in February 1810 and was engaged in the protection of trade. In 1847 her surviving crew members would qualify for the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "GUADALOUPE".
Grouper was wrecked on a reef off Guadeloupe on 21 October 1811.[1] At 5am she struck a reef three miles NW of Carret Island, which lies to the west of Baie-Mahault.[2] Her crew made rafts of the wreckage and all were saved. The crew abandoned Grouper and she went to pieces after daybreak. The subsequent court martial on on 7 February 1812 reprimanded Atkins for his want of caution.[2] The board blamed the loss on the neglect of Angus McLeod, the officer of the watch, who deserted, together with many of the crew, before the court martial.[2]
References
- Gossett, William Patrick (1986) The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. (London:Mansell).ISBN 0-7201-1816-6
- Grocott, Terence (1997) Shipwrecks of the revolutionary & Napoleonic eras. (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books).
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
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