Hired armed cutter Active
Encyclopedia
During the period of the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
, there were two or three vessels known as the hired armed
cutter Active that served the Royal Navy
. The reason for the uncertainty in the number is that the size of the vessels raises the possibility that the first and second may have been the same vessel.
) and was armed with ten 3-pounder guns. She signaled the approach of the Dutch fleet to Admiral Adam Duncan before his victory at Camperdown
on 11 October 1797. Her commander, Lieutenant J. Hamilton, was on the deck of Venerable
when Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter surrendered his sword.
Active participated in the disastrous expedition
against the Batavian Republic
under Vice-admiral Andrew Mitchell
and Lieutenant General Ralph Abercromby
. On 28 August 1799, she and the Hired armed cutter Swan
participated in the capture of the Dutch hulks Drotchterland and Broederschap, and the ships Helder, Venus, Minerva, and Hector, in the New Diep, in Holland. Prize money for these vessels was due to be paid on 24 February 1802.
On 22 November 1800, while Active was on the River Ems
and still under the command of Lieutenant Hamilton, a French privateer, together with some Dutch gunboats, captured her. The French took her into service as Victoire.
The Hired armed brig Lady Ann, of 16 guns and under the command of Lieutenant John Lake, recaptured her off Flamborough Head
on 16 May 1801, after a running fight and chase of 17 hours. Victoire was operating as a privateer, was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns, and had a crew of 75 men. She was under the command of Jean Beville. Lake found his small crew far out-numbered by all his prisoners so he made first for Bridlington
where he landed 55 of them, then on to Yarmouth with the prize and 20 others.
In 1805 she was under the command of Lieutenant Morris. Between 23 and 25 April 1805, Lord Keith was a part of a squadron that captured the Dutch armed schuyts Nos 43, 45, 48, 52, 54, and 57, and the unarmed Transport No 3, all off Boulogne.
On 26 May 1807, Lord Keith was in company with and some other vessels when they captured the Hopet and the Neptunis.
On 28 June Lord Keith was in company with Crescent when they captured the Liebe. Two days later they captured the Minerva. Then on 15 July the cutter captured the Vrouwengast. On 6 August, Resolution, and Lord Keith were in company when they captured the Danish vessel Adjutor. On 3 August she and Resolution captured the Zeldenrust. Lastly, on 1 September, Lord Keith captured the Danish Ship Welfornyet.
On 11 January 1808 a violent gale drove her into Cuxhaven where the French captured her. At the time of her capture, Lord Keith was under the command of Lieutenant Mitchell Roberts.
On 20 February 1804, while under the commanded of Lieutenant John Williams and with a crew of about 30 men and boys, Active was off Gravelines
when she sighted 16 sail of French gun-boats and transports running from Ostend towards Boulogne. Williams immediately gave chase and soon commenced a running fight with the flotilla. Shortly thereafter he compelled the outermost vessel, a horse-transport, to strike. The delay occasioned in taking possession of thehorse transport, the Jeune Isabelle, enabled the other vessels to get under the protection of shore batteries before Active could resume the pursuit. Prize money was due to be paid on 3 April 1805.
On 5 September 1805, Active captured the Sophia Amelia. Ten days later Active, under the command of Lieutenant William Barnes, recaptured the sloop Providence. The next day Active recaptured the Betsey Francis.
On 26 August 1807, Active, under the command of Lieutenant T.B.A. Hicks, captured the Boletta Elizabeth. That same day he captured the Junge Hendrick. Two days later Hicks captured the Fornoyelsen. On 3 March 1810 prize monies resulting from the capture of the Boletta Elizabeth and Fornoyelsen were due for payment. The notice referred to Hicks, as "the late".
On 13 January 1808, Pandora, Lieutenant Robert Ellary commanding, on the Home station and in company with Active, captured the French privateer Entreprenante, of 16 guns and 58 men. The chase took an hour and forty minutes and finished two miles from the French coast under the batteries near Cap Gris Nez
. Entreprenante would not stop until her captain, M. Bloudin, her second captain and four or five men had been wounded and Pandora had run alongside her. She had been out of Calais for three days and had taken the brig Mary, of Sunderland. Active joined in the chase and took off some of the prisoners.
Lieutenant James Askey commanded her in 1810. On 11 January 1809, Active, under the command of Mr. John Middleton, captured the French privateer St. Jago et Erfurt. On 4 July Active was under the command of Lieutenant Stephen Cousins when she captured the Dutch smack Erasmus.
On March 11 1811 Active arrived at Deal, Kent
, with a prize, from off the Scaw
at the entrance to the Kattegat
.
Active spent the rest of her contract carrying dispatches too and from Flushing. On 8 December8 1812, she arrived at Harwich
, having brought his Excellency Prince Kollosky, Envoy Extraordinary from Russia to Sardinia, from Gothenburg
.
On March 27 March 1814 Active, under the command of James Rogers, recaptured the Telemachus. The next day Active arrived at Deal from the Scheldt
having detained and brought in a brig from St Ubes
, Portugal.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, there were two or three vessels known as the hired armed
Hired armed vessels
right|thumb|250px|Armed cutter, etching in the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels...
cutter Active that served the 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...
. The reason for the uncertainty in the number is that the size of the vessels raises the possibility that the first and second may have been the same vessel.
The first Hired cutter Active
Active served the Royal Navy from 12 May 1794 to 22 November 1800. She had a burthen of 71 tons (bmBuilder's Old Measurement
Builder's Old Measurement is the method of calculating the size or cargo capacity of a ship used in England from approximately 1720 to 1849. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam...
) and was armed with ten 3-pounder guns. She signaled the approach of the Dutch fleet to Admiral Adam Duncan before his victory at Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
on 11 October 1797. Her commander, Lieutenant J. Hamilton, was on the deck of Venerable
HMS Venerable (1784)
HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 April 1784 at Blackwall Yard.In 1797, Venerable served as Admiral Duncan's flagship at the Battle of Camperdown....
when Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter surrendered his sword.
Active participated in the disastrous expedition
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...
against the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
under Vice-admiral Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mitchell
The Right Honourable Andrew John Bower Mitchell MP is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield...
and Lieutenant General Ralph Abercromby
Ralph Abercromby
Sir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...
. On 28 August 1799, she and the Hired armed cutter Swan
Hired armed cutter Swan
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Admiralty also made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was the Hired armed cutter Swan. Actually there were two such cutters, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one...
participated in the capture of the Dutch hulks Drotchterland and Broederschap, and the ships Helder, Venus, Minerva, and Hector, in the New Diep, in Holland. Prize money for these vessels was due to be paid on 24 February 1802.
On 22 November 1800, while Active was on the River Ems
River Ems
The river name Ems may refer to:* Ems , a river in Germany and the Netherlands* River Ems , a river in the English counties of West Sussex and Hampshire...
and still under the command of Lieutenant Hamilton, a French privateer, together with some Dutch gunboats, captured her. The French took her into service as Victoire.
The Hired armed brig Lady Ann, of 16 guns and under the command of Lieutenant John Lake, recaptured her off Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head is a promontory of on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, and the resistance it offers to coastal erosion may be contrasted with the low coast of Holderness to the south...
on 16 May 1801, after a running fight and chase of 17 hours. Victoire was operating as a privateer, was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns, and had a crew of 75 men. She was under the command of Jean Beville. Lake found his small crew far out-numbered by all his prisoners so he made first for Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
where he landed 55 of them, then on to Yarmouth with the prize and 20 others.
The second Hired cutter Active
The second Hired cutter Active served the Royal Navy on two contracts. The first was from 5 June 1803 to 4 August. She was renamed the Lord Keith in 1804. As the Lord Keith she served from 14 February 1804 to 11 January 1808. Lord Keith had a burthen of 71 tons (bm) and was armed with six 4-pounder guns.In 1805 she was under the command of Lieutenant Morris. Between 23 and 25 April 1805, Lord Keith was a part of a squadron that captured the Dutch armed schuyts Nos 43, 45, 48, 52, 54, and 57, and the unarmed Transport No 3, all off Boulogne.
On 26 May 1807, Lord Keith was in company with and some other vessels when they captured the Hopet and the Neptunis.
On 28 June Lord Keith was in company with Crescent when they captured the Liebe. Two days later they captured the Minerva. Then on 15 July the cutter captured the Vrouwengast. On 6 August, Resolution, and Lord Keith were in company when they captured the Danish vessel Adjutor. On 3 August she and Resolution captured the Zeldenrust. Lastly, on 1 September, Lord Keith captured the Danish Ship Welfornyet.
On 11 January 1808 a violent gale drove her into Cuxhaven where the French captured her. At the time of her capture, Lord Keith was under the command of Lieutenant Mitchell Roberts.
The third Hired cutter Active
The third Hired cutter Active served from 14 June 1803 to 4 May 1814. She had a burthen of 77 tons (bm), and was armed with eight 4-pounder guns.On 20 February 1804, while under the commanded of Lieutenant John Williams and with a crew of about 30 men and boys, Active was off Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
when she sighted 16 sail of French gun-boats and transports running from Ostend towards Boulogne. Williams immediately gave chase and soon commenced a running fight with the flotilla. Shortly thereafter he compelled the outermost vessel, a horse-transport, to strike. The delay occasioned in taking possession of thehorse transport, the Jeune Isabelle, enabled the other vessels to get under the protection of shore batteries before Active could resume the pursuit. Prize money was due to be paid on 3 April 1805.
On 5 September 1805, Active captured the Sophia Amelia. Ten days later Active, under the command of Lieutenant William Barnes, recaptured the sloop Providence. The next day Active recaptured the Betsey Francis.
On 26 August 1807, Active, under the command of Lieutenant T.B.A. Hicks, captured the Boletta Elizabeth. That same day he captured the Junge Hendrick. Two days later Hicks captured the Fornoyelsen. On 3 March 1810 prize monies resulting from the capture of the Boletta Elizabeth and Fornoyelsen were due for payment. The notice referred to Hicks, as "the late".
On 13 January 1808, Pandora, Lieutenant Robert Ellary commanding, on the Home station and in company with Active, captured the French privateer Entreprenante, of 16 guns and 58 men. The chase took an hour and forty minutes and finished two miles from the French coast under the batteries near Cap Gris Nez
Cap Gris Nez
Cap Gris Nez is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais département in northern France....
. Entreprenante would not stop until her captain, M. Bloudin, her second captain and four or five men had been wounded and Pandora had run alongside her. She had been out of Calais for three days and had taken the brig Mary, of Sunderland. Active joined in the chase and took off some of the prisoners.
Lieutenant James Askey commanded her in 1810. On 11 January 1809, Active, under the command of Mr. John Middleton, captured the French privateer St. Jago et Erfurt. On 4 July Active was under the command of Lieutenant Stephen Cousins when she captured the Dutch smack Erasmus.
On March 11 1811 Active arrived at Deal, Kent
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
, with a prize, from off the Scaw
Skagen
Skagen is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,515 , in Region Nordjylland on the northernmost tip of Vendsyssel-Thy, a part of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark...
at the entrance to the Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
.
Active spent the rest of her contract carrying dispatches too and from Flushing. On 8 December8 1812, she arrived at Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
, having brought his Excellency Prince Kollosky, Envoy Extraordinary from Russia to Sardinia, from Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
On March 27 March 1814 Active, under the command of James Rogers, recaptured the Telemachus. The next day Active arrived at Deal from the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
having detained and brought in a brig from St Ubes
Setúbal
Setúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality. The city proper has 89,303 inhabitants....
, Portugal.