Dutch Sloop Havik (1784)

The Dutch ship sloop ''Havik'' was launched in 1784 and served in the Batavian Navy. The British captured her in 1796 at the capitulation of Saldanha Bay. She then served briefly in the Royal Navy as HMS ''Havick'' (or ''Havik'', or ''Havock'') before she was wrecked in late 1800.

Dutch service and capture

''Havik'' was a ship sloop with a quarterdeck, built at Amsterdam in 1784 for the Admiralty of Amsterdam under the 8th Charter.

At Saldanha Bay a squadron of the Batavian Navy, under the command of Rear-Admiral Engelbertus Lucas, surrendered without a fight to a Royal Navy squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral George Elphinstone at Saldanha Bay on 17 August 1796. ''Havik'' was one of the vessels that the British captured. At the time of her capture, ''Havik'', under the command of Lieutenant Pieter Bessemer (or Bezemer), was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 76 men.

Commander Charles Ekins was appointed to , supposed to be at the Cape of Good Hope, but found, on his arrival, that she had been condemned and broken up. He sailed ''Havik'' back to Britain. After his return to Britain, he was advanced to post captain on 22 December 1796.

British service

''Havick'' underwent fitting at Plymouth in the first two weeks or so of January 1797. The Royal Navy commissioned her under Commander Philip Bartholomew that month with the role of cruising and escorting convoys.

On 28 March 1799, ''Havik'' and the hired armed brig sailed from Plymouth for the Île de Batz. Eight days later, ''Telegraph'' captured the French privateer ''Hirondelle'' on 5 May 1799 in a notable action. ''Havick'' claimed a share of the prize money, a claim that ''Telegraph''s officers and crew contested. The matter was not settled until 1818.

One month after leaving Plymouth ''Havik'' returned, escorting two French brigs and a Dutch East Indiaman, ''Zeeland'', which was sailing from Tranquebar to Copenhagen. On 15 May ''Havick'' sailed with a convoy to Cork.

On 25 August ''Havick'' brought into Plymouth the ''Hedwin'', Rosenzen, master, which had been sailing from Almeria to Hamburg. On 18 September ''Havick'' brought in the Swedish brig ''Aurora'', of Gothenburg, Sandelhus, master. ''Aurora'' had been sailing from Tenerife to Hamburg with a cargo of barilla.

On 29 January 1800, ''Havick'' was in the Channel when signaled to ''Havick'' to chase north. There ''Havik'' observed a ship, a cutter, and a lugger fleeing to the southeast. ''Havik'' captured the ship, which was the American vessel ''Strafford'', of 16 guns and carrying a cargo of tobacco from Baltimore to London; she had been a prize to the other two fleeing vessels, and Bartholomew believed that her cargo was worth £30–40,000. ''Suffisante'' captured both, which turned out to be the lugger ''Courageux'' and the cutter ''Grand Quinola''. ''Courageux'' was armed with four 4-pounder guns and one 18-pounder carronade, and had a crew of 42 men. ''Grand Quinnola'' was armed with 8-pounder brass carronades, two 2-pounder brass guns, two 2-pounder iron guns, and swivel guns; she had a crew of 47 men. The two privateers had left Saint-Malo together three days earlier. ''Havick'' and ''Suffisante'' shared their prize money with and the hired armed brig .

''Landrich'', a prize to ''Havick'', arrived at Plymouth on 28 February. ''Landrich'' had been sailing from San Domingo for Bremen. She was followed on 6 March by ''Landrake'', which was carrying a cargo of sugar from San Domingo to Hamburg.

On 3 September ''Havick'' and ''Suffisante'' encountered a French flotilla of 14 vessels carrying provisions and stores to the French fleet at Brest, and under the escort of a frigate armed '' en flute'', with 18 guns, a corvette of 18 guns, and a brig of 14 guns. The British engaged the French and drove them under the protection of shore batteries near Morlaix. Fire from the batteries killed two men on ''Havick'', and wounded two, including Lieutenant Bayley.

Fate

''Havick'' was under Batholomew's command and had been tasked with patrolling between the Channel Islands and the Île de Batz so she anchored in St Aubyn's Bay, Jersey in November 1800 to take on a local pilot. She lost her anchor and had to resort to a makeshift. When a severe gale came up on 9 November, it drove her onshore. The crew cut away her masts and threw her guns overboard, but ''Havick'' nevertheless filled with water and settled into the sand. When the tide went out she settled even further. Although several other vessels in the bay such as ,''Lloyd's List'' 14 November 1800, №4102.
/ref> suffered similarly, they were refloated. ''Havick'', however, was so badly damaged that she was abandoned as a wreck. Neither ''Havick'' nor ''Pelican'' suffered any casualties, though the crews were subject to waves breaking over them for six hours until the tide, which had risen (perpendicular), providentially receded.

In 1987 metal detectors discovered what would prove to be the site of the wreck. Excavations under the auspices of the Jersey Heritage Trust began in 1997. Much of the material recovered was metal, including musket and cannon shot, a candle snuffer, and large quantities of copper plates and nails used in the hull sheathing; some woodwork was also discovered.

Notes

Citations

References

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* ''Rotterdams jaarboekje'' (1900). Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum. (W. L. & J. Brusse).
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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Havik (1784)
Ships built in Amsterdam
1784 ships
Sloops of the Royal Navy
Maritime incidents in 1800
Captured ships
Shipwrecks in the English Channel