HMS ''Mandarin'' was a Dutch

gun-brig A gun-brig was a small brig-rigged warship that enjoyed popularity in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, during which large numbers were purchased or built. In general these were vessels of under 200 tons burthen, and thus smaller than ...

of 178 tons burthen ( bm) and 12 guns that the British had captured at Amboyna in February 1810. She served as part of a four-vessel flotilla that captured Banda Neira. She was wrecked in November 1810.

Capture

The British captured a number of vessels during the attack on Amboyna. One was the ship ''Mandarine'', of 16 guns and 66 men, Captain Besman, that captured on 3 February after a chase of four hours. ''Mandarine'' had been out for four weeks but had captured nothing. ''Cornwallis'' suffered only one man wounded in the action. Another vessel, captured on 15 February, was the Dutch brig ''Mandurese'', Captain Guasteranus. She had 12 guns and was one of three vessels sunk in the inner harbor of Amboyna. However, the British raised her after the island surrendered. From her description, HMS ''Mandarin'' appears to have been ''Mandurese'', with confusion arising out of the similarity of her name with that of the vessel that ''Cornwallis'' captured.

Service

The British commissioned ''Mandarin'' under Lieutenant Archibald Buchanan. From May to August, she took part in the

Invasion of the Spice Islands The invasion of the Spice Islands was a military invasion by British forces that took place between February to August 1810 on and around the Dutch owned Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) also known as the Spice Islands in the Dutch East Indies during ...

, along with ''Piemontaise'' (or ''Piedmontaise''), , and . Lieutenant Charles Jeffries (or Jefferis) replaced Buchanan at some point, probably well after August.

Fate

''Mandarin'' was wrecked on Red Island, near Singapore, on 9 November. Jeffries was carrying dispatches from Amboyna to Madras when his vessel struck an unknown reef in the Straits of Singapore. Jeffries saved the dispatches and he and his crew lived on the island until , which happened to be passing, rescued them.

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandarin (1810) Maritime incidents in 1810 Brigs of the Royal Navy Captured ships