HMS Zenobia (1807)
HMS Zenobia was an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop launched 7 October 1807 by Brindley at King’s Lynn. Although she served during the Napoleonic Wars she is known for her role in two events, the claiming of Ascension Island for Great Britain in 1815, and the naming of the Saumarez Reefs in 1823.
Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812
Commander Alexander K. Mackenzie commissioned her and remained her captain until July 1812. During that time she was in the North sea and visited Portugal at least twice.
In July, Commander Richard Foley assumed command. On 19 September she brought in the American brig Cordelia, from Saint Ubes, which she had detained.
Then in June 1814 Commander William Dobree assumed command. On 10 January 1815 Zenobia arrived in Lisbon with the Henry and Alfred, a West Indiaman, which she had recaptured after the 14-gun Harpy, an American privateer, had captured the merchantman off Cape Finisterre.
Ascension Island
Zenobia, under Captain William Dobree, together with her sister ship Peruvian, under Captain James Kearney White, had been part of the flotilla under Rear Admiral George Cockburn that had taken Napoleon into his final exile at St Helena. Cockburn, concerned that the French might use Ascension Island, uninhabited at the time,[1] to mount a rescue mission, decided to claim and garrison the island. On 22 October 1815, at 5pm, Zenobia and Peruvian anchored in Clarence Bay. The ships' logs record that at 5.30pm, Dobree and White came ashore, raised the Jack, and took possession of the island in the name of His Britannic Majesty, King George III. Zenobia left shortly thereafter, while Peruvian stayed until Spring.[2] On 8 April 1816 Zenobia arrived in Plymouth and was laid up.
Napoleon died on St Helena in 1821 and the Admiralty wanted to withdraw the garrison. However, Sir George Collier, Commodore of the West Africa Squadron, persuaded the Admiralty to retain it as it had become a victualing station for the vessels of the squadron, which was engaged in anti-slavery patrols. It also provided a sanatorium for the squadron's ships and crew. The Admiralty later designated Ascension Island "HMS Ascension", a "Stone sloop of War of the smaller class".[1]
Saumarez Reefs
Lieutenant John Lihou, then Master of Zenobia, was on passage from Manila to South America and had chosen a route through Torres Strait. This was the first occasion a ship was navigated through Torres Strait from west to east. It was also the first occasion a ship was navigated through the Coral Sea from Torres Strait, south-eastward to the southward of New Caledonia. Lihou saw Sir James Saumarez' Shoal (now Saumarez Reefs) on 27 February 1823, and named the reef system after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez. On this same trip, Lihou discovered the Lihou Reef and Cays and Port Lihou. Zenobia left Sydney, New South Wales, in April.
Fate
On 6 August 1835 Zenobia was offered for sale by Dutch auction but taken in at £690, having started at £1200. Later that month a Mr. Tibbett bought her for £650 for breaking up.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About Ascension Island". Ascension Island Government. http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/aig/ascension-island-about.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ↑ Watson (1912), p.245.
- Colledge, J.J. (1987) Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present. (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press). ISBN 0-87021-652-X.
- Watson, George Leo de St M (1912) A Polish exile with Napoleon : embodying the letters of Captain Piontkowski to General Sir Robert Wilson and many documents from the Lowe papers, the Colonial office records, the Wilson manuscripts, the Capel Lofft correspondence, and the French and Genevese archives hitherto unpublished. (London & New York: Harper & Brothers).
- Winfield, Rif (2008) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1815: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing), 2nd Edition. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.
