HMS Moira (1805)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Moira (or Earl of Moira)
Builder:	Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, Ontario; M/Shipwright John Dennis[1]
Launched:	28 May 1805
Renamed:	Charwell on 22 January 1814
Reclassified:	Re-rigged as brig in 1813 Powder hulk in 1816 Accommodation vessel in 1827
Fate:	Sold in 1837
General characteristics
Class and type:	14-gun schooner later 16-gun brig-sloop
Tons burthen:	168 ^59⁄94 (bm)
Length:	70 ft 6 in (21.49 m) (overall); 56 ft 3 ^5⁄8 in (17.161 m) (keel)
Beam:	23 ft 8 in (7.21 m)
Draught:	7 ft (2.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	schooner later brig sloop
Complement:	86 (in 1830)
Armament:	Launched as 14-guns Rearmed with 16 guns in 1813: 2 × 9-pounder guns and 14 × 24-pounder carronades After 1814 1 × 18-pounder replaced the 9-pounders and 2 carronades

HMS Moira (or HMS Earl of Moira) was a British 14-gun schooner of the Royal Navy, that plied the waters of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River during the War of 1812 Engagements on Lake Ontario. She was sold in 1837.

Career

She was launched on 28 May 1805 at Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, Ontario to a design by Alexander Munn, and was named for the 1st Marquis of Hastings and 2nd Earl of Moira (1754-1826). She was rebuilt in 1813, being re-rigged as a brig, and carrying 16 guns.

War of 1812

She was renamed Charwell on 22 January 1814.^[1]

In May 1814, Charwell was part of Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo's squadron in the attack on the American fort at Oswego.

She was then with the squadron while it blockaded Sackets Harbor, New York.

On 12 August Charwell (A.F. Spence), Magnet (Edward Collier), Netley (Lieutenant Charles Radcliffe), and Star (Alexander Dobbs), captured two American schooners, Somers and Ohio.^{[Note 1]}

After the end of the war Charwell became a powder hulk from 1816 and an accommodation vessel in 1827.^[1]

Fate

Charwell was sold in 1837.^[1]

Footnotes

Notes

1. A first-class share of the head money paid in January 1819 was worth £13 6s 5¼d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 4s 0½d.^[2]

Citations

1. Winfield (2008), p.273.
2. The London Gazette: no. 17439. p. 86. 12 January 1819.

References

• Rif Winfield (2005). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
• David Lyon (1997). The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, Built, Purchased and Captured, 1688-1860. London. ISBN 0-85177-864-X.
• Robert Malcomson (2001). Warships of the Great Lakes: 1754-1834. Annapolis. ISBN 1-55750-910-7.
• Robert Malcomson (1998). Lords of the Lake. Annapolis. ISBN 1-55750-532-2.
• Jonathan Moore (2006). Archaeological and Historical Investigations of Three War of 1812 Wrecks at Kingston, Ontario : HMS St. Lawrence, HMS Kingston and HMS Burlington : Report for Province of Ontario Licence to Conduct Archaeological Exploration or Fieldwork 1999-096 at Sites BbGd-6, BbGc-45 and BbGc-46. Ottawa. ISBN 0-9781712-0-9.
• The War of 1812 Magazine
• 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 Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• PAH2677 View of the embarkation of the Earl of Moira, on board the Sterling Castle off Cooper's Island, Port Louis.... Augt 20th 1813
• The War of 1812 Magazine