HMS Haddock 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...

 Ballahoo-class schooner

Ballahoo class schooner

The Ballahoo class was a Royal Navy class of eighteen 4-gun schooners built under contract in Bermuda during the Napoleonic War. The class was an attempt by the Admiralty to harness the expertise of Bermudian shipbuilders who were renowned for their fast-sailing craft...

 of 4 12-pounder carronade

Carronade

The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...

s and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, and she was launched in 1805.
Haddock only sailed for some three to four years before the French captured her in 1809 in the Channel. This schooner was the only Royal Navy ship ever to use the name.

Service

She was commissioned in April 1805 under Lieutenant John Buddle. Between 9 October and 15 November she was in Portsmouth, refitting. At this time the Admiralty had her lines taken. She would then act as the model for the subsequent Cuckoo-class schooners

Cuckoo class schooner

The Cuckoo class was a class of twelve 4-gun schooners of the Royal Navy, built by contract in English shipyards during the Napoleonic War. They followed the design of the Bermuda-designed and built Ballahoo-class schooners, and more particularly, that of Haddock. The Admiralty ordered all twelve...

.

Haddock sailed for Jamaica on 11 December. In 1806 she was under Lieutenant Edward Foley. On 22 May she captured the Arrogante, for which head money for 19 men was paid in March 1828.This is from the London Gazette. However, in 1806 Diadem

HMS Diadem (1782)

HMS Diadem was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 December 1782 at Chatham. She participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797.In 1798 she was converted to serve as a troopship...

 captured the brig Arrogante of two guns off Montevideo. It is an open question as to whether there is a coincidence, or Haddock was acting as a tender to Diadem, or the item in the newspaper represents an error. In 1808 Lieutenant Charles William Selwyn took command.

Fate

On 30 January 1809 the French 16-gun square-rigged brig Génie captured Haddock, which was under the command of Lieutenant Henry Edwards. At 1:30pm, Haddock sighted a brig that began to give chase. In her attempt to escape, Haddock threw her guns, shot and stores overboard. Still, the brig gained. Haddock surrendered at 8:30pm, having first thrown her signals and dispatches overboard. The encounter occurred in the Atlantic,, or the Channel.Génie was an Abeille-class brig, built at Dunkerque and launched 23 July 1808. Her armament consisted of eighteen 24-pounder carronades.Winfield, Grocott, and Hepper (in his index) agree that the date of the capture was 30 January, but then Hepper gives the date in the text as 12 November.