HMS ''Hyacinth'' was an 18-gun ship-sloop of the ''Cormorant'' class in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, launched in 1806 at Great Yarmouth. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gun

Post-ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a ship of the sixth rate (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carr ...

(but without being re-armed). She was again re-rated as 24 guns in 1817. ''Hyacinth'' took part in some notable actions on the coast of Spain, one of which earned qualified in 1817 for the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1820.

Service

''Hyacinth'' was commissioned in October 1806 under Commander John Davie.Winfield (2008), p.259. On 21 April 1807 ''Hyacinth'' captured the '' Frau Justina''. Then on 15 August 1807 ''Hyacinth'', under Commander John Davie, captured the ''Zeenymph''. That same day ''Hyacinth'' was in company with ''Forrester'' and ''Flora'' when ''Flora'' captured the fishing vessels ''Hoop'', ''Nepthun'' and ''Hoffnung''. Nine days later ''Hyacinth'' and ''Vestal'' were in company with ''Flora'' when ''Flora'' captured the ''St. Sylvester''. ''Hyacinth'' then sailed for South America on 15 February 1808. In August 1809, Commander John Carter took command while ''Hyacinth'' was still in South America. She returned to Britain and spent the period May through July 1811 in Portsmouth undergoing maintenance. At some point in 1812 the Admiralty re-rated ''Hyacinth'' as a

post ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a ship of the sixth rate (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carry ...

, and Captain

Thomas Ussher Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Ussher KCH CB (1779 – 6 January 1848) was an Anglo-Irish officer of the British Royal Navy who served with distinction during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and who in 1814 conveyed Napoleon Bonapart ...

took command of her.

Attack on the ''Brave'' and the ''Napoleon''

In the spring of 1812 ''Hyacinth'' received the task of stopping several fast vessels that were operating as privateers from Malaga, all under the command of "Barbastro". Unfortunately, ''Hyacinth'' was not fast enough to catch the privateers and although Usher disguised her as a merchantman, this ruse too failed. Usher then assembled a small squadron consisting of ''Goshawk'', ''Resolute'' and Gunboat No. 16 to attack the privateers in their base. On the evening of 29 April, Usher sent in his squadron's boats carrying a cutting out party. ''Hyacinths gig and pinnace with Usher, Lieutenant Thomas Hastings and 26 men, attacked a battery of fifteen 24-pounder guns. Her barge, with Lieutenant Francis Spilsbury and John Elgar, purser, and 24 men attacked a second battery of four 24-pounder guns opposite the first. Commander Lilburne of ''Goshawk'', with 40 men in Lieutenant Cull's gunboat, attacked the chief privateer ship ''Brave'' (or ''Braave'', alias ''Sebastiani''). The remaining boats, under Lieutenant Keenan, attacked the other privateers. Usher and his party went in ahead and took possession of their target battery in less than five minutes. He fired a rocket that was the signal for the gunboat and the other boats to come in. Midshipman Pierce and 12 men then boarded and captured the ''Brave'' despite facing 33 crew men who had remained aboard after Barbastro and the bulk of his crew had jumped overboard. Lilburne followed the plan by attacking the remaining privateer vessels. To assist the attack, Usher turned the guns in the battery that he had captured around and fired on the castle of Gibralfaro; the British kept up the cannonade until they had exhausted the available ammunition. When the British sought to withdraw, soldiers from the French 57th. regiment lined the mole, firing their muskets as the prize crews brought out their prizes. The castle too fired at the withdrawing British with its cannons. Then the wind died away, which slowed the withdrawal; it was at this time that Lilburne was mortally wounded. The French fire forced the British to leave behind most of the vessels they had captured. Before they did so, they damaged them as much as they could. The British were able to bring out ''Brave'' and ''Napoleon'' (alias ''Diaboloten''), both of 10 guns. The boarding party also retrieved an eagle that Napoleon had presented to Barbastro and that he had left on ''Brave''. The attack had a heavy cost for the British. The gunboat sank during her return passage to Gibraltar and in all, the British lost 15 men killed and 53 wounded.Marshall (1827), Supplement, Part 1, pp.345-8. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Malaga 29 May 1812" for this action.The shift by a month in the date of the action appears to be an error.

Other action on the coast of Granada

In May 1812, ''Hyacinth'' and and supported Spanish guerrillas on the coast of Granada, against the French. On 24 May with ''Hyacinth'' and ''Termagant'', ''Basilisk'' took a French privateer of two guns, and a brass cannon. Prize money for the "capture of a brass gun and the destruction of a French privateer, name unknown" was payable in March 1836. ''Hyacinth'' destroyed the castle at

Nerja Nerja () is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is part of the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country's southern Mediterranean coast, about 50 k ...

on 25 May. The British squadron then supported a guerrilla offensive against Almunecar. The British destroyed a privateer of two guns and 40 men under the castle. They the fired on the castle, creating breaches in its walls. The French then retreated to Grenada after having spiked the castle's guns, which consisted of two brass 24-pounders, six iron 18-pounders, a 6-pounder, and a howitzer. The French also left behind a number of deserters, Flemish and German draftees, who had long looked for an opportunity to quit their involuntary service. In June 1812 Captain William Hamillton was appointed to command ''Hyacinth''. When the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

broke out, the British captured several American ships in the Mediterranean. ''Hyacinth'' shared with , , , and ''Tuscan'' in the American ''droits'' for ''Phoenix'', ''Margaret'', ''Allegany'' and ''Tyger'', captured on 8 August 1812 at Gibraltar after the arrival of the news of the outbreak of the

. Ten days later, ''Hyacinth'' and were in sight when the letter of marque ''Sir Alexander Ball'' captured the American ship ''Grace Ann Green''. Nine days after that, ''Hyacinth'' and captured the ''Eliza''. Hamillton's temporary successor in November was Captain John Lampen Manley. In January 1813 Alexander Sharpe replaced Manley.

Fate

''Hyacinth'' remained in the Mediterranean until 1815. Later, in 1817, she sailed to Brazil. ''Hyacinth'' was broken up in December 1820.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References *Brett, Edwin John (1871) ''Brett's illustrated naval history of Great Britain, from the earliest period to the present time: a reliable record of the maritime rise and progress of England''. (Publishing Off.) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyacinth (1806) Cormorant-class ship-sloops Ships built in England 1806 ships