HMS Hecate (1809)

HMS ''Hecate'' was a Royal Navy 18-gun , built by John King at Upnor and launched in 1809. After serving in the British Navy, essentially entirely in the East Indies, she served in the Chilean Navy as ''Galvarino'' from 1818 until she was broken up in 1828.

Royal Navy service

''Hecate'' was commissioned in 1809 under Commander William Buchanan. Commander Edward Wallis Hoare replaced him in October and sailed for the East Indies on 31 October.

In 1810, Lieutenant George Rennie became acting commander and ''Hecate'' was detailed for service with the squadron under Admiral Albemarle Bertie engaged in the Invasion of Île de France.

In 1811 ''Hecate'' was under Commander Thomas Graham until July, when Commander Henry John Peachey assumed command. From 3 August she was part of the fleet involved in the invasion of Java, which ended with the surrender of Dutch and French forces on 16 September. For this service all of her crew who had survived to 1847 and chose to were entitled to claim the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java". In 1815 ''Hecate'' also shared in the prize money arising out of the invasion.

Peachey was promoted to post-captain on 7 August 1812 and removed to . Lieutenant William Case may have followed Peachey as acting commander, but then the newly promoted Commander Case took command of ''Samarang'', and Commander Joseph Drury transferred from ''Samarang'' to ''Hecate''. At some point in 1812 pirates from the Sultanate of Sambas, in western Borneo, captured nine sailors from ''Hecate'' and killed or enslaved them, after cutting their hamstrings or otherwise mutilating them.Low (1815), p. 256. In June 1813 ''Hecate'' participated in a punitive expedition against the Sultanate of Sambas.

''Hecate'' sailed for Madras in January 1814 and her next commander, from 4 February 1814, was Commander John Allen. On 20 November 1815 command passed to John Reynolds.

''Hecate'' arrived in Portsmouth on 17 August 1816, from Trincomalee, which she had left on 20 March. She had sailed via the Cape of Good Hope and Saint Helena. On 22 May 1817 the Admiralty offered ''Hecate'', then lying at Portsmouth, for sale.

Chilean Navy service

On 30 October 1817 the Admiralty sold ''Hecate'' to Mr. Parkin for £860. She sailed to Buenos Aires, where she was also known as ''Lucy''. She was resold to the Chilean Revolutionary government, arriving in Chile on 9 November 1818 under the command of Captain Guisse. She served the new Chilean Navy as ''Galvarino'', first under Captain Spry (until Admiral Thomas Cochrane dismissed him) and then under Captain Winter. On 2 October 1819 she was at the second attack on Callao where a lieutenant onboard was killed by Spanish fire. In 1821, while under the command of Captain I. Esmond, her crew mutinied and refused to go to sea until they had received their back pay and prize money.

She participated in the Freedom Expedition of Perú, but after the final confrontation between San Martín and Cochrane and the subsequent loss of many officers and seamen to the new Peruvian Navy, and ''Galvarino'' were sent back to Valparaíso to ease the demand for seamen.Vale (2008), p. 151.

Fate

''Galvarino'' was broken up 1828.

Notes

Citations

References

* Cochrane, Thomas, Earl of Dundonald (1859) ''Narrative of services in the liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese domination''. (London, J. Ridgway).
* Lopez Urrutia, Carlos (1969) "Historia de la Marina de Chile", Ed. Andrés Bell
url
* Vale, Brian (2008) ''Cochrane in the Pacific: fortune and freedom in Spanish America''. (London: I. B. Tauris).
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecate (1809)
Ships built on the River Medway
Brigs of the Royal Navy
Cruizer-class brig-sloops
1809 ships