HMS Pilchard (1805)

HMS Pilchard was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda. She was commissioned under Lieutenant Samuel Crew in May 1804, launched in 1805, and completed at Plymouth in 1806.[1] Although Pilchard was often near naval engagements, she seems not to have had to fire her cannons before she was laid up in 1812. Entries in Lloyd's Register indicate that she continued in mercantile trade from at least 1817 until 1833, under a variety of owners and masters, and as far afield as Africa and Valparaiso.

History
UK
Name: HMS Pilchard
Ordered: 23 June 1803
Builder: Goodrich & Co. (prime contractor), Bermuda
Laid down: 1803
Launched: 1805
Fate: Sold 23 February 1813
United Kingdom
Name: Pilchard
Owner: Various
Acquired: c. 1814 by purchase
Fate: Leaves lists c.1833
General characteristics [1]
Type: Ballahoo-class schooner
Tonnage: 70 ​41⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 55 ft 2 in (16.81 m) (overall)
  • 40 ft 10 1⁄2 in (12.5 m) (keel)
Beam: 18 ft 0 in (5.49 m)
Depth of hold: 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m)
Sail plan: Schooner
Complement: 20
Armament: 4 x 12-pounder carronades

Service

Pilchard arrived in Plymouth in November 1805. She had left Newfoundland on 26 September with a fleet for Portugal. On 18 November she had left 18 merchantmen off Oporto, two of which sailed on to Viana.[2] On 16 July 1806 she was in Sir Samuel Hood's squadron off Rochefort when the boats from that squadron captured the 16-gun brig Caesar.[3]

She was apparently still part of the squadron at the Action of 25 September 1806 though she took no part in the engagement. The action resulted in the capture of four French frigates, Armide, Gloire, Infatigable and Minerve.[4]

On 26 October Pilchard was in sight of the gun brig Rapid as she captured the brig Conductor.[4]

In 1807 Lieutenant Clement Ives took command, only to be replaced the next year by the returning Lieutenant Crew. Pilchard was in the North Sea in 1809. Lieutenant William R. Dore took command that year. On 23 March Dore and Pilchard captured the chasse maree Fannie.[5] In March or April, Pilchard captured the Fame, which had sailed from Rochefort carrying wine, and sent her into Plymouth.[6]

Pilchard and her sister schooner Porgey and half-sister schooner Cuckoo were at the unsuccessful Walcheren Expedition, which took place between 30 July and 9 August 1809.[7]

Lieutenant William Hewitt (or Hewett) replaced Dore in 1810.[1]

From 1812 Pilchard was in ordinary at Sheerness. She was sold there on 23 February 1813.[1] The sale may have fallen through though as the Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy advertised her for sale at Sheerness on 3 February 1814.[8] She was eventually sold though.

Mercantile service

Pilchard is listed in Lloyd's Register in 1815.[9] Pilchard, Williams, master, was condemned at Sierra Leone on 6 January 1817 for having 200 barrels of gunpowder on board.[10] However, entries in Lloyd's Register for the Bermuda-built schooner Pilchard, 79 tons (bm), indicate that she continued to trade until 1833, under a variety of owners and masters, and as far afield as Africa and Valparaiso.

Year Master Owner Trade Notes
1815 J.Levans
Pasnells?		 Williams London-Africa 2 guns
1818 Papril Williams Falmouth - Africa
1819 Papril Williams Falmouth - Africa
1820 J. Wilcox Williams London - Africa
1823 J. Wilcox Williams London - Africa
1824 J. Wilcox J. Jones London - Africa
1825 S. Coates Hill & Co. London - C.C.C.
1826 S. Coates J. Jones London - Malaga
1827 S. Coates Laviland London - C.C.C.
1828 T. Paul Laviland London - Marseilles
1829 Playford Hill & Co London - Valparaiso
1833 Playford Hill & Co London - Valparaiso Last listing

Citations
  1. Winfield (2008), p.359.
  2. Lloyd's List, - accessed 26 November 2013.
  3. "No. 16069". The London Gazette. 19 September 1807. p. 1253.
  4. "No. 16236". The London Gazette. 11 March 1809. p. 331.
  5. "No. 16315". The London Gazette. 14 November 1809. p. 1836.
  6. Lloyd's List, - accessed 24 November 2013.
  7. "No. 16650". The London Gazette. 26 September 1812. p. 1971.
  8. "No. 16853". The London Gazette. 8 February 1814. p. 310.
  9. Lloyd's Register (1815), Seq. №307.
  10. Lloyd's List, - accessed 25 November 2013.

References
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
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