HMS ''Bold'' was a 14-gun built by Tyson & Blake at

Bursledon Bursledon is a village on the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It is located within the borough of Eastleigh. Close to the city of Southampton, Bursledon has a railway station, a marina, dockyards and the Bursledon Windmill. Nearby villages i ...

. She was launched in 1812 and wrecked off Prince Edward's Island on 27 September 1813.

Design and construction

The ''Bold'' class were a revival of Sir William Rule's design of 1804. They were armed with ten 18-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s and two 6-pounder bow chasers. Built at

by Tyson & Blake, ''Bold'' was launched on 26 June 1812 and commissioned in July 1812 under Commander John Skekel, who sailed for North America in her on 17 April 1813.

Service

On 18 or 26 May 1813 (records differ), while in the company of the Halifax

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Sir John Sherbrooke'', the two vessels recaptured , which the American privateer ''General Plummer'' had taken shortly before. ''Duck'' had been traveling from Waterford to Newfoundland.

Fate

On the morning of 27 September 1813, ''Bold'' grounded on the north end of

Prince Edward's Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

between 3 and 4am. Some accounts emphasize that this occurred during a strong NE gale. However the court martial account does not mention this. Despite efforts to lighten her, ''Bold'' remained stuck and ultimately had to be abandoned. In the morning it was clear that she was a cable-length (i.e., a little more than an eight of a mile) from shore. The crew established a line to the shore through the surf and this enabled a boat to go back and forth between vessel and shore. The result was that her entire crew of 67 officers and men were saved. A small party went overland to

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

to seek help while the remainder of the crew attempted to salvage what it could. Lieutenant Governor C. D. Smith sent the transport ''Agnes'', which had recently arrived at Charlestown, with ordnance stores for the garrison, to assist ''Bold '' and recover stores. ''Agnes'' took ''Bold''s crew to Halifax.''Alexandria Gazette''. Commercial and Political (Alexandria, Virginia), 9 November 1813, p.3. The subsequent court martial reprimanded Skekel and the master for having neglected to instruct the watch to take frequent depth soundings. It also fined the local pilot for not having warned Skekel about the currents in the area. John Skekel went on to another command and in time became an admiral.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bold (1812) Brigs of the Royal Navy 1812 ships Maritime incidents in 1813 Ships built on the River Hamble War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom