Hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent

Two vessels have been named the Hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent.^{[Note 1]}

The first Earl St Vincent

The first Hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent (or Earl of St Vincent) served the Royal Navy from 16 March 1798 to 29 April 1802, when she was returned to her owners.^[1] She was armed with 14 or 16 cannon and had a crew of 56 men and a burthen of 185 tons (bm).^[2]

In 1798 and 1799 she was in the Mediterranean where she carried letters and despatches for Lord Nelson. In 1799, at least, she was under the command of Lieutenant Sargeant.^[3] On 25 July 1800 she captured the Revanche.^[4]

On 6 May 1800, His Majesty's Hired Armed Schooner Earl St Vincent, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Boys, captured the Spanish privateer Santa Ysabella (alias Saavedra).^[5]

In 1801 she was under the command of Lieutenant H. Boys (Boyce) at Plymouth. She sailed on 20 January for Jamaica with the King's proclamation for stopping all Russian, Danish and Swedish vessels. However, between 26-28 January she was in company with a number of other vessels at the capture of the French 36-gun frigate Dédaigneuse, afterwards added to the British navy under the same name.^[6] On 27 January she was in company with Amethyst and Sirius when they captured the Spanish ship Carlotta.^[7] On 5 May Earl St Vincent and Naiad captured the Phoenix.^[8]

Earl St Vincent returned to Portsmouth on 2 July. When she returned to Plymouth on 8 July she brought in the Cheri, a valuable French brig, bound for Bordeaux from Cayenne with a cargo of cocoa, coffee and dye-wood.^[9] She and Naiad had captured Cheri on 8 April 1801.^[10]

On 21 July Lieutenant Boyce received orders to fit for foreign service and the following day he went into the Sound and sailed with a convoy to the eastward. On 6 August she captured the French schooner Elise, in sight of Diamond.^[11] On 26 August she brought in to Plymouth two rich Spanish prizes that she had captured of Cape Ortegal.^[12]

On 2 November at the height of a gale, Earl St Vincent, which was moored to the south of St Nicholas' Island (now Drake's Island), parted both anchors and scudded through the sound under bare poles to the entrance of the Cattewater. By skillful steering she ran through two lines of trawlers, missed both pier-heads and finished up on the mud in Sutton Pool, quite safe.^[13]

The second Earl St Vincent

The second Earl St Vincent was a cutter of fourteen 12-pounder carronades and 19416/94 tons burthen (bm) that served the Royal Navy from 3 May 1804 until 3 March 1806 when she was returned to her owners.^[1] In 1806 her name was changed to St Vincent.^[14]

In 1804 she was under the command of Lieutenant William Shepheard who transferred from Basilisk.^[15] Earl St Vincent left Portsmouth Harbour on 8 May to take an American convoy to the westward. She spent more than two years cruising on the coast of Scotland, around the Orkney and Shetland islands, and in the Baltic. The general promotion following the Battle of Trafalgar missed Lieutenant Shepheard, who complained, but to no immediate avail. Still, on 15 August 1806 he was promoted to the command of Demarara.^[15]

Notes

1. The name Earl St Vincent comes from John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent.

References

1. 3Decks - Naval Sailing Warfare History.Hired Vessels
2. Lyons (1993), p.264.
3. Nelson and Nicolas (1844-46), p.395.
4. The London Gazette: no. 15563. p. 232. 1 Mar 1803. Retrieved 2 Dec 2010.
5. The London Gazette: no. 15646. p. 1614. 19 Nov 1803. Retrieved 2 Dec 2010.
6. The London Gazette: no. 15486. p. 584. 5 Jun 1802. Retrieved 2 Dec 2010.
7. The London Gazette: no. 15386. p. 843. 14 Jul 1801. Retrieved 1 Dec 2010.
8. The London Gazette: no. 15481. p. 508. 18 May 1802. Retrieved 1 Dec 2010.
9. The Naval Chronicle, Vol. 6, p.80.
10. The London Gazette: no. 15594. p. 728. 18 Jun 1803. Retrieved 1 Dec 2010.
11. The London Gazette: no. 15448. p. 91. 26 Jan 1802. Retrieved 1 Dec 2010.
12. The Naval chronicle, Vol. 6, p.252.
13. The Naval chronicle, Vol. 6, p.429.
14. Winfield (2008), p.393.
15. Marshall (1823-1835), p.24.

• 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.
• James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. 5. R. Bentley.
• Lyons, David (1993) The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy - Built, Purchased and Captured - 1688-1860. (Conway Maritime Press).
• Marshall, John ( 1823-1835) Royal naval biography, or, Memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers, superannuated rear-admirals, retired-captains, post-captains, and commanders, whose names appeared on the Admiralty list of sea officers at the commencement of the present year 1823, or who have since been promoted ... (London : Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown).
• Nelson, Horatio, Viscount Nelson and Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1844-46) The dispatches and letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, with notes. (London:, H. Colburn).
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.