HMS Sophie (1809)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Sophie |
| Ordered: | 21 November 1808 |
| Builder: | John Pelham, Frindsbury |
| Laid down: | December 1808 |
| Launched: | 8 September 1809 |
| Completed: | By 23 December 1809 |
| Fate: | Sold on 15 August 1825 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop |
| Tons burthen: | 387 40/94 bm |
| Length: |
100 ft 3 in (30.56 m) (overall) 77 ft 3.5 in (23.559 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Brig-sloop |
| Complement: | 121 |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Sophie was an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, where she was involved in an unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer, Alabama, and the First Anglo-Burmese War.
Contents
Construction and commissioning
Sophie was ordered on 21 November 1808 from the yards of John Pelham, of Frindsbury and was laid down there in December that year.[1] She was launched on 8 September 1809 and had been completed at Chatham Dockyard by 23 December 1809.[1][2] She commissioned under Commander Nicholas Lockyer in October that year.[1] Lockyer was to command her for the next five years, initially serving out of Portsmouth, before sailing to North America in August 1812.
War of 1812
Sophie went on to have an active career taking prizes and operating against American privateers during the War of 1812. On 31 August 1812 she captured the merchant vessel Alexander; and on 25 November the brig Experience from Rio and bound for Boston.
On 11 December Sophie took the schooner Fanny and Maria and the ship Syrus , and several days later on 31 December the 17-gun Pioneer in the Chesapeake. Her success continued the following year, when in January 1813 she made prizes of the schooners Polly Merrick from Norfolk and George Washington from Windsor, both bound for New York. On 22 June Sophie captured the letter of marque Amelia and then the 76-ton schooner Erie on 11 December. The Erie, under the command of John Heams, had been sailing from Havana to Baltimore with a cargo of sugar and coffee. The British unloaded the cargo and afterwards sent it to Bermuda. The British squadron in the Chesapeake employed Erie as a tender.
By 26 December 1813 Sophie was operating in company with the 36-gun fifth rate frigate HMS Maidstone, and together they captured the merchant vessel Mary Ann, sailing from Philadelphia to Charleston. On 24 April 1814 Sophie captured the 2-gun American privateer Starks, which had been out of Wilmington for 24 days with a crew of 25 men, but had not taken any prizes.[1]
While stationed in the Chesapeake in 1813, as part of a squadron under Captain Barrie in the 74-gun third-rate HMS Dragon, Sophie participated in several cutting out expeditions. In November, boats from Dragon and Sophie, under Lieutenant Pedlar of Dragon, brought out, without loss, three American vessels from a creek in the Potomac. Then between 6 and 19 November, Sophie burned two schooners, captured one sloop, and burned another. Between 22 and 28 November she joined forces with HMS Acteon to destroy two schooners and a sloop and capture three schooners and two sloops. All these vessels were coasters.
On 24 April 1814 she captured the 2-gun privateer .Starks
Mobile and New Orleans
At the beginning of August 1814 Sophie took brevet Captain Woodbine to Pensacola to communicate with friendly Indians who had been driven into Spanish territory. On 23 August Sophie joined with the 20-gun brig HMS Hermes, the Hon. William Henry commanding, and they landed a detachment of troops to fortify Fort San Miguel (the former and current Fort George (Pensacola, Florida), together with the Spaniards. Six days later, Captain Percy directed Lockyer and Sophie to proceed to Barataria Bay on the southern side of the Mississippi delta to communicate with the Indians and freebooters there and tempt them into the British service by offering lands in Her Majesty's colonies. In fact, their leader, Jean Lafitte, passed the proposals on to Governor of Louisiana.
She was then one of the ships involved in the unsuccessful British attack on Fort Bowyer at Mobile Point on 15 September 1814. The Sophie had 6 killed and 16 wounded, and Hermes had 17 killed, 5 mortally wounded and 20 wounded. Their defeat caused the British to over-estimate the defences at Mobile and decide to move against New Orleans instead.
On 8 December 1814, two US gunboats fired on Sophie, HMS Armide and the sixth-rate frigate HMS Seahorse while they were passing the chain of small islands that runs parallel to the shore between Mobile and Lake Borgne.
Between 12 and 15 December 1814, Lockyer led a flotilla of some 50 boats, barges, gigs and launches to attack the US gunboats. He drew his flotilla from the fleet that was massing against New Orleans, including the 74-gun Third Rate HMS Tonnant, Arminde, Seahorse, HMS Manly, and HMS Meteor. Lockyer deployed the boats in three divisions, of which he led one. Capt. Montresor of the gun-brig Manly commanded the second, and Capt. Roberts of Meteor commanded the third.[3] After rowing for 36 hours, the British met the Americans at St. Joseph's Island. On 13 December 1814, the British attacked the one-gun schooner USS Sea Horse. On the morning of the 14th, the British engaged the Americans in the short, violent, Battle of Lake Borgne. They captured or destroyed almost the entire American force, including the tender, USS Alligator and five gunboats. The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded; Sophie's only casualty was Lockyer, who was badly wounded. The flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton[4].
Sophie went on to support British forces involved in the Battle of New Orleans between December 1814 and January 1815.[1] Sophie temporarily came under the command of Lieutenant James Tattnall in December 1814, until he was succeeded in April 1815 by Commander Silas Hood. Hood was followed in an acting capacity by Lieutenant William G. Roberts, who paid her off at Portsmouth in 1815.[1]
Post-war and First Anglo-Burmese War
Significant repairs were carried out between 1815 and 1817, with Sophie not returning to service again until December 1818, having been recommissioned under Commander Sir William Wiseman during this time.[1] Wiseman and Sophie were based at Jamaica until 1820, when she returned to Britain for further fitting out and a return to service under Commander George French.[1] French took Sophie to the East Indies, where she subsequently sailed under a number of commanders, including Commander Robert Dunlop from July 1822 to April 1823. George Ryves, the first lieutenant of HMS Alligator, became acting commander in Sophie on 8 April 1823. His appointment was confirmed in the following October.
Aug 1824 following ships composed the naval force in India :
At the outbreak of the First Anglo-Burmese War, Frederick Marryat, who would go on to be a novelist, captain of the 20-gun HMS Larne, took command of a squadron consisting of Sophie, the 50-gun HMS Liffey, and the small paddle steamer HMS Diana. On 5 May 1824, Larne, Sophie and Liffey sailed from Port Cornwallis in the Andaman Islands for Rangoon, the principal initial point of attack, with four cruisers belonging to the East India Company, under Captain Henry Hardy, together with other vessels, including Diana. They arrived on the 10th, and launched the attack on the 11th.
In August 1824, the naval force in India consisted of HMS Tees (26 guns), HMS Alligator (28), HMS Slaney (20), the 18-gun Cruizer-class HMS Arachne, and Larne, Sophie, and Liffey. Of this force only Larne was at Rangoon. The Sophie had been despatched to Bengal for provisions.
By September 1824, nearly one fourth of the Sophie's crew had died, and as many more were sick. The surviving officers, seamen, and marines were authorized the medal "India, No. 1", with clasp for Ava.
Between September 1824 and February 1825, Sophie, together with other vessels including included Alligator, Arachne, Diana, and HMS Satellite, took part in some half-a-dozen small operations. On 19 September 1824, the British conducted offensive operations against Penang that included the boats of Arachne, Sophie, and Diana. Then on 30 October, Sophie and Arachne co-operated with the army in the attack on Martaban, about 100 miles east of Rangoon.
Fate
In the middle of May 1825, Lieutenant Ryves was invalided. Lieutenant Edward Blanckley of Alligator was promoted to the command of the Sophie, which departed from the station shortly thereafter.[1] Sophie was sold in the East Indies for £3,200 on 15 August 1825.[1][2]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Winfield. British Warships of the Age of Sail. p. 285.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 326.
- ↑ Edward Pelham Brenton. 1823. The naval history of Great Britain from the year MDCCLXXXIII to MDCCCXXIII.(London: C. Rice), pp. 189-191.
- ↑ London Gazette of 26 Jun 1821
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.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1794–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
