HMS Forester was a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 18-gun built by John King and launched in 1806 at Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

. After a relatively uneventful career she was sold in 1819.

Service

Forester entered service in 1806 under Captain John Richards and was sent to act as a convoy escort for ships sailing to the Baltic

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. During this service Forester also recaptured a British merchant vessel. Off the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 she captured the smuggler Hiram. In 1808 Forester was caught in a gale in which several vessels were wrecked; Forester was also tasked with burning the frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 , one of the vessels that had been wrecked. Soon afterward Forester escorted a convoy to Gorée

Gorée

Île de Gorée Île de Gorée Île de Gorée (i.e. "Gorée Island"; is one of the 19 communes d'arrondissement (i.e. "commune of arrondissement") of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is a island located at sea from the main harbor of Dakar ....

 and was then refitted at Spithead

Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

, subsequently sailing to Corunna

A Coruña

A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...

 and then the West Indies.

Operating off Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

, Forester participated in the invasion of Martinique

Invasion of Martinique (1809)

The invasion of Martinique of 1809 was a successful British amphibious operation against the French West Indian island of Martinique that took place between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars...

 in January 1809. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded all surviving claimants from the campaign the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "MARTINIQUE".

On 31 May Richards sent boats from his small squadron under the command of Lieutenant Robert Carr of the gun-brig Attentive to capture a French letter of marque

Letter of marque

In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...

 and a schooner from under the protection of four long-guns guns and 300 soldiers at the Port du Molas. Carr captured the vessels and then landed, spiked the guns, and blew up the French magazine.

Command passed to John E. Watt, and then in 1813 to Alexander Kennedy. On 5 May and Forester captured the American privateer Mary Ann off San Domingo. She was armed with a long 9-pounder gun and a 4-pounder. Mary Ann was under the command of Peter Charriol and had a crew of 30, one of whom was found dead. She was 20 days out of Charleston and had made no captures.

On 15 May Forrester and captured the 5-gun Lovely Lass off Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. The capture followed a chase of 19 hours during which the Lovely Lass threw four of her guns overboard. Her commander was Mr. John Smith of the American Navy, and she had a crew of 60 men. Smith reported that he had been out 40 44 days and had made no captures. On 5 July, Forrester captured the ship Granger.

In April 1814, Kennedy was dismissed from Forester and suspended from his rank for two years for disobeying orders from Rear-Admiral William Brown. Command then passed to William Hendry.

Fate

In 1817, following the end of the wars, Forester was paid off at Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

. She was sold there on 8 March 1819 to G. Young for £1,130.