HMS Acheron (1803)

HMS ''Acheron'' was the mercantile ''New Grove'', launched at Whitby in 1799, that the Admiralty purchased in 1803 and fitted as a bomb-vessel. She served in the Mediterranean for about a year. On 3 February 1805 she and were escorting a convoy from Malta to England when they encountered two French frigates. ''Arrow'' and ''Acheron'' were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. ''Arrow'' sank almost immediately after surrendering, and ''Acheron'' was so badly damaged that the French burnt her. However, the British vessels' self- sacrifice enabled almost all the vessels of the convoy to escape.

Mercantile career

''New Grove'' first appears in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1800, with owner T. Brown and T. Lacey, master. She was in the London – Jamaica trade. During the year she received a new master, J. Barclay, and Suriname as her destination. Thereafter she remained under Barclay's command, and in the Jamaica trade until Brown sold her to the Admiralty in October 1803.

HMS ''Acheron''

The Admiralty named their purchase HMS ''Acheron'' and had her fitted out as a bomb vessel between 28 October and 2 March 1804, at Woolwich Dockyard. Commander Arthur Farquhar commissioned her in December 1803 for the Mediterranean.

In July ''Acheron'' was part of the British squadron blockading the port, bottling up the French fleet. Between 2 and 5 August, bad weather drove the British off station. Admiral de Latouche Tréville took the opportunity to sortie from Toulon to give his crews an opportunity to train. However, he did not try to sail to Boulogne, as Napoleon desired. In fairness, de Latouche Tréville was ill and died on 10 August.

On 23 November ''Achiron'' iccaptured the ''Adamo''. ''Acheron'' also shared in the proceeds of the capture by Nelson's fleet of ''Maria Magdalena'', ''St. Judas Tadeo'', ''Victoria'', ''Agatha'', and ''Corvo'' on 15, 17, and 21 November, and 8 December.

Captain Richard Budd Vincent, of ''Arrow'', arrived in Malta on 20 December from Naples. At Malta, he received instructions to take the merchant vessels gathered there to England, once some merchantmen arrived from Smyrna to join the convoy. The orders further specified that he was to take ''Acheron'' with him to assist him in protecting the trade. ''Arrow'' was returning to England as she was badly in need of repairs that could only be performed there. The vessels from Smyrna arrived on 2 January 1805, and the convoy left for England on 4 January.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 17, pp.278–306.

The vessels from Smyrna arrived on 2 January 1805, and the convoy left for England on 4 January. The brig had escorted the convoy from Smyrna and she continued on as an escort as far as western Sicily.

The convoy numbered some 25–30 vessels. A later account gives the vessels as the transport '' of Rutland'' and 29 British merchant vessels.

Between 19 and 22 January, bad weather off the coast of Spain caused the convoy to separate into two parts, one with ''Arrow'' and the other with ''Acheron''. During the night of 29 January the brig ''Union'' apparently foundered with all hands during a squall.

On 2 February, the convoy fell in with the Spanish ship ''Gravina'', which had captured on 27 January. ''Gravina'' was on her way to Malta but Captain Hyde Parker of ''Amazon'' had instructed the commander of the prize crew to sail to England should he encounter a convoy sailing there. ''Gravina'' therefore joined the convoy.

Fate

The and the were cruising off the coast of Algeria when on 1 February 1805, they engaged a convoy, destroying seven ships. Two days later, they encountered another convoy.

This second convoy was the convoy that ''Arrow'' and ''Acheron'' were escorting. Early on the morning of 3 February the British were off Cape Caxine when they sighted the two French vessels, which the British initially thought they might be members of the convoy rejoining. When it became clear that the strange vessels were French frigates, ''Arrow'' threw off the tow to the brig ''Adventure'', which had been leaking and which the British destroyed to prevent her falling into enemy hands. ''Arrow'' and ''Acheron'' then placed themselves between the convoy and the pursuing French. Vincent signaled the vessels of the convoy to make for a per-designated rendezvous point. The French frigates did not catch up to the Royal Navy vessels until the morning of 4 February. Initially, ''Hortense'' engaged ''Acheron'', and ''Arrow'' fired a broadside into ''Hortense'' as well. About two hours later, ''Incorruptible'' joined the action. Vincent signaled to ''Duchess of Rutland'', the most capable, though minimally so, of the merchant vessels, to join the action, a signal ''Duchess of Rutland'' ignored. Throughout the action the Royal Navy vessels were at a disadvantage. Not only did the French frigates have more cannons and men, but the French cannons were guns, whereas the British cannons were almost all carronades. The French could therefore stand off and fire their guns while out of the effective range of the carronades. Also, the French were carrying a large number of troops who harassed the British with small arms fire whenever the vessels closed. After about an hour Vincent had to strike. ''Arrow''s hold was filling with water and four of her cannons were dismounted. She also had heavy casualties. All of ''Arrow''s boats had been destroyed, but boats from ''Incorruptible'' took off the survivors, and rescue those men from ''Arrow'' that jumped into the water as ''Arrow'' turned on her beam ends and sank.

In the battle, of the 132 men on board, ''Arrow'' lost 13 men killed and 27 wounded, at least two of whom died later. The number included passengers, some 17 of whom were being invalided home. A lady, her infant, and her ladies' maid were also taking passage on board.

''Acheron'' fought on for another quarter of an hour before she too struck. She had lost three or four men killed and eight wounded. She had a complement of 67 men, and at least two passengers, a lieutenant of marines and his servant, both of whom were killed. She was so damaged that the French burnt her. ''Hortense'' had 10 men killed out of her crew of 300 men and the 350 artillerymen she was carrying.''L' Abeille du nord'', Vol. 10, p.22.

The French frigates also captured three ships of the convoy; the rest of the convoy escaped. One of the vessels the French captured was ''Dutchess of Rutland'', whose master failed to destroy her convoy signals and instructions; fortunately the French had to return to port to effect repairs and did not take advantage of the opportunity this represented. The French scuttled the three merchant vessels they had captured.

After the loss of their escorts, some of the surviving vessels of the convoy fell prey to privateers. ''Fuerte'', of Cadiz, captured ''Alert'', Langley, master, ''Castle'', Anderson, master, a ship, and a brig, and sent them into Malaga. Reportedly, ''Fuerte'' had captured a fifth vessel that she sent into Algeciras. One of the vessels ''Fuerte'' sent into Malaga was later identified as , which was one of several ships of the convoy that had turned to sail back to Malta.

It later turned out that British frigate ''Fisgard'' and the sloop had been at Cape Pallas (), a few leagues from the action.Nicholas & Nelson (1846), Vol. 6, pp.213. However, they were unaware of it and so did not come to the convoy's assistance.

''Hortense'' took Farquhar and his men into Malaga, from where they were exchanged relatively quickly. The court martial of Farquhar, his officers, and men, for the loss of their vessel took place on in Palma Bay, Sardinia. Farquhar, his officers, and men, were honourably acquitted. Farquhar then received a promotion to post captain for his bravery.

The French held Vincent and his crew as prisoners in Cartagena, Spain, for almost three months from 8 February until early May. Vincent had managed to keep his Turkish sabre when he left ''Arrow'', but a French officer confiscated it and the French refused to return it. Eventually, Admiral Lord Nelson was able to arrange a cartel brig to return the British prisoners to Gibraltar. From there they left for England on 28 May on the storeship ''Camel'', arriving at Saint Helen's on 4 June.

The court martial of Vincent and his crew for the loss of ''Arrow'' convened on 17 June aboard at Portsmouth. The court martial honourably acquitted all; Vincent received promotion to post captain immediately thereafter.

Lloyd's Patriotic Fund awarded both Vincent and Farquhar honour swords, each worth £100. In addition, the Fund awarded Vincent a piece of plate of the same value. Furthermore, the Fund paid out £545 to the wounded and the families of those who had died. At the request of Lloyd's, the Chairman of the association of Merchants Trading to South of Europe provided Vincent with the sum of £477 10s, and a proportionate amount to Farquhar, for them to procure clothing and necessities for their officers and crew, who had lost everything when they were captured and their vessels were destroyed. Vincent received £50, and each seaman received £2 10s.

On 19 September 1808, the merchants of Malta awarded Farquhar with a piece of plate and a complementary letter. The merchants also presented Vincent with a piece of plate.''Dictionary of National Biography'' (1909), Vol. 20, p. 362.

In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Arrow 3 Feby. 1805" to the eight surviving claimants from ''Arrow'', and the clasp "Acheron 3 Feby. 1805" to the one surviving claimant from ''Acheron''.

Notes

Citations

References

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* Nelson, Horatio and Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1846) ''The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson''. (Colburn).
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Acheron (1803)
1799 ships
Ships built in Whitby
Sloops of the Royal Navy
Captured ships
Maritime incidents in 1805
Shipwrecks of Algeria
Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea