HM Hired Brig Telegraph (1798)
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HM Brig Telegraph |
| Commissioned: | 10 November 1798 |
| Honours and awards: | clasp "TELEGRAPH 18 MARCH 1799" to the Naval General Service Medal |
| Fate: | Lost on or around 14 February 1801 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Brig |
| Tons burthen: | 262 81/94 tons bm |
| Armament: |
• 14 × 18-pounder carronades • 2 × long 6-pounder guns |
HM Hired Brig Telegraph was built in 1798 and in Royal Navy service from 10 November.[1] During the French Revolutionary Wars she took several prizes and was the victor in one notable ship action before she was lost at sea with all hands in 1801.
Telegraph vs Hirondelle
At daylight on 18 March 1799, Telegraph, under Lieut. James Andrew Worth, was some leagues north west of the Île de Batz when she encountered the French privateer Hirondelle. Hirondelle was armed with 16 guns (mixed 8-pounders and 6-pounders), and had a crew of 72, to Telegraph's 60 men. Hirondelle was three days out of St Malo and had taken two prizes, an American schooner and an English sloop, which had reduced her crew from the 89 men with which she had started.[2]
Hirondelle tacked to meet Telegraph and the two vessels commenced firing on each other at 0730 hours. Each tried to board the other, but finally, at 1100 hours, Hirondelle struck. She had suffered five men killed and 14 wounded and was totally dismasted and unmanageable. Telegraph had five men wounded. For his part in the action, Worth received promotion to the rank of Commander.[3]
Prize taking
Lieut. Caesar Corsellis replaced Worth as captain of Telegraph. On 5 May she captured the galiot Vrouw Martha. One month later she joined the Mediterranean fleet off the Gulf of Fréjus with news of the French fleet. In November she captured the galiot Beuns von Koningsberg.
Telegraph, which had been with coasting convoys, arrived in Plymouth from Torbay on 1 January 1800 and that same day set off in pursuit of a French privateer that had been seen boarding a brig in Whitsand Bay and then taking a cow and some corn from Looe Island. Apparently Telegraph was unsuccessful.
During a great gale on 16 May Telegraph was on her beam ends for several minutes with water up to the combing of her hatchways. It was only when the fore top-mast and the bowsprit went that she righted. She made Plymouth five days later.[4]
During a worse storm on 9 November many vessels were wrecked along the coast. Telegraph survived because her crew cut away her main-mast. She had been in St Aubin's Bay in Jersey together with a number of vessels that also survived. Another vessel in the Bay that was less fortunate was Havick, which sank, though fortunately with no loss of life.[4]
By December 1800, Telegraph's commander was Lieutenant John Mundall. Under his command she captured the galliot Jussrow Bielke. On 5 January 1801 she captured the Dutch ship Cornelia. Mundall's commission as Lieutenant, however, dated from 10 January 1801.[5]
Telegraph returned from a cruise on 23 January after stopping six vessels. She sent two Swedish and one Danish vessel into Dartmouth, the latter with a valuable cargo of tobacco from Baltimore bound for Stockholm. The General Wraigh arrived at Portsmouth on 26 January and the Catherine Margaretta, from Seville to Altona, arrived on 4 February.[6]
Loss
Telegraph parted from the Mediterranean fleet off Cape Ortegal in a gale on 14 February 1801. She was never heard of thereafter and was declared lost, presumably having foundered in the gale.[7] Mundall may have been temporary or acting captain because at the time of the sinking Telegraph's captain was again Lieut. Caesar Corsellis.
Post loss developments
On 21 January 1803 prize money resulting from the capture of the galliot Beuns von Koningsberg and ship Cornelia was due for payment.
On 31 March 1805 the prize money for the capture of Jussrow Bielke was made available for claiming.
The head money for the capture of Hirondelle, long in dispute with the officers and company of Havick, was finally deposited in the Registry of the High Court of Admiralty on 26 October 1818.
In 1847 the Admiralty issued the clasp "TELEGRAPH 18 MARCH 1799" to the Naval General Service Medal for the action with Hirondelle. However, by then none of Telegraph's crew came forward to claim their medal, presumably in great part because most had been lost when she foundered.
References
- ↑ Winfield (2008), p. 389, based on Admiralty records, reports only the 14 18-pounder carronades. James (1837), p. 375, writing about the ship action that occurred a year after Telegraph entered service, adds the two 6-pounders.
- ↑ Tancred (1891), p.122, reproduces the text of Worth’s letter reporting the action.
- ↑ James (1837), p. 375.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Grocott (1997), p.106.
- ↑ Teape, Henry (1823) A list of the flag officers & other commissioned officers of His Majesty's fleet. (Admiralty), p.114,
- ↑ Grocott (1997), p.102.
- ↑ Grocott (1997), pp.106-7.
- Grocott, Terence (1997) ‘’Shipwrecks of the revolutionary & Napoleonic eras’’. (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole). ISBN 0-8117-1533-7
- James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.. 1. R. Bentley.
- Tancred, George (1891) “Historical record of medals and honorary distinctions conferred on the British Navy, Army and auxiliary forces from the earliest period : to wich is added ... collection of Colonel Murray of Polmaise’’. (London).
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
