HMS ''Surprise'' was a 38-gun
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
of the of 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 ...
, although all these
fifth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal N ...
frigates were re-classed as 46-gun under the general re-rating of February 1817, from when
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 on the quarter deck and forecastle were included in the rating.
''Surprise'' was ordered on 10 April 1809 at
Milford Dockyard Milford may refer to:
Place names Canada
* Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia
* Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia
* Milford, Ontario
England
* Milford, Derbyshire
* Milford, Devon, a place in Devon
* Milford on Sea, Hampshire
* Milford, Shro ...
in Pembrokeshire where her keel was laid down there in January 1810. She was launched on 25 July 1812, and sailed round to Plymouth Dockyard to be completed. Fitting out took place between 9 August and 1 December 1812, and she was commissioned in September 1812 under the command of Captain Sir
Thomas John Cochrane
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas John Cochrane (5 February 1789 – 19 October 1872) was a Royal Navy officer. After serving as a junior officer during the French Revolutionary Wars, he captured the HMS Favourit ...
, sailing for the West Indies on 19 December 1812.
During 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 ...
, under Cochrane's command, she served initially on the
Leeward Islands
french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent
, image_name =
, image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis.
, image_alt =
, locator_map =
, location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean
, coor ...
, where she captured the American privateer ''Decatur'' on 16 January 1813. ''Decatur'' was pierced for 14 guns but mounted 12, and had a crew of 82 men. A shot from ''Surprise'' had wounded two men on ''Decatur'', one of whom subsequently died. ''Decatur'' was 21 days out of Boston and but had made no captures.
''Surprise'', , , and were in company on 13 March 1813 when they captured ''Lark''.
Subsequently, ''Surprise'' served on the North American station. From June 1814, her captain was George Knight, and she was present at the bombardment of
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack b ...
in September 1814.
Fate
''Surprise'' was
paid off
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...
and placed in
ordinary
Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to:
Music
* ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast
* ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011)
* "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016)
* "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008)
* ...
in August or September 1815. By 1822, she had been reduced to a hulk at Milford, but was then fitted out at Plymouth as a
convict hulk
A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nation ...
to be stationed at Cork, where she remained until sold (for £2,010) there in 1837.
Notes
;Citations
;References
Further reading
*
External links
HMS ''Surprise'' at the Naval Database website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surprise (1812)
War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom
Leda-class frigates
1812 ships
Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy