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 ...
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
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 ...
, built at
Frindsbury
Frindsbury is part of the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, southern England. It lies on the opposite side of the River Medway to Rochester, Kent, Rochester, and at various times in its history has been considered fully or partially part of the ...
and launched in 1801. She captured privateers on the
Jamaica station
Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station ...
and fought in the
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...
and elsewhere in the Baltic before being lost to grounding off Estonia in 1811.
Jamaica station
Captain James Walker commissioned ''Tartar'' in July 1801. She sailed for Jamaica in October.
In June 1802 Captain Charles Inglis took command. On 30 August 1802 ''Tartar'' was among the British warships sharing in the capture of the French
tartane
A tartane (also tartan, tartana) was a small ship used both as a fishing ship and for coastal trading in the Mediterranean. They were in use for over 300 years until the late 19th century. A tartane had a single mast on which was rigged a large la ...
''Concezione''.
In 1803 Captain John Perkins succeeded Inglis. ''Tartar'' was in Captain John Loring's squadron at the
Blockade of Saint-Domingue
The Blockade of Saint-Domingue was a naval campaign fought during the first months of the Napoleonic Wars in which a series of British Royal Navy squadrons blockaded the French-held ports of Cap Français and Môle-Saint-Nicolas on the northern ...
when captured the 74-gun on 25 July off
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
. ''Tartar'' outsailed her larger companions and kept ''Duquesne'' engaged until came up, at which point ''Duquesne'' surrendered.National Archives, Kew: ADM 51/1447 Captains' logs Tartar 16 April 1802 – 30 April 1804
As the British warships and their prize were sailing between the two islands of St. Domingo and Tortudo, near Port-au-Paix, they met up with the French schooner ''Oiseaux''. She was armed with 16 guns and her crew of 60 men was under the command of ''Lieutenant de Vaisseau'' Druault. Loring ordered ''Vanguard'' and ''Tartar'' to escort ''Duquesne'' and ''Oiseau'' to Port Royal.
Between 20 November and 4 December 1803 ''Tartar'' was in company with Captain Loring's squadron when the squadron captured the French frigates , , and ''Vertu'', the
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
, and the
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Découverte''. All five were taken into British service. ''Surveillante'' had on board at her surrender General Rochambeau the commander of the French forces on
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
. On 1 December the squadron detained the ''Hiram'' for a breach of the blockade of Cape Francois.
In 1803 and 1804 Perkins escorted Edward Corbet to Haiti. Corbet had been appointed to liaise with
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under the Constitution of Haiti, 1 ...
, the new governor general and later first Emperor of Haiti. These missions were often less than successful.
In 1804 ''Tartar'' was on the Jamaica Station under Captain Keith Maxwell, who had received promotion to
post-captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy.
The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:
* Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...
on 1 May. Around this time ''Tartar'' grounded in Murray's Roads, Bermuda. The tiny 4-gun schooner came to ''Tartar''s assistance, temporarily salvaging the main deck guns and bower anchor.
On 31 July ''Tartar'' sighted a schooner. Maxwell set off to prevent the schooner from entering the narrow and intricate channel between the island of
Saona
Saona Island ( es, Isla Saona) is a 110 square kilometer tropical island located off the south-east coast in Dominican Republic's La Altagracia province. It is a government-protected nature reserve and is part of '' Parque Nacional Cotubanamá''.
...
and
San Domingo
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...
where it would be difficult for him to pursue. As ''Tartar'' got closer he saw that the schooner was using her sweeps to aid her. Her behaviour made Maxwell suspect that his quarry was a privateer so he pursued her until neither vessel could progress farther. At that point, Maxwell was unable to get ''Tartar'' into a position from which she could use her broadside. Instead, he sent in a cutting out party in three boats. As the boats set out, their quarry fired a gun, hoisted French colours, and then opened fire on the boats. The schooner was not able to deter the attack and the British captured her with no more casualties than two men wounded. The French lost nine killed and six wounded, as well as three missing, presumed drowned when they tried to swim to shore. Maxwell sent the wounded to San Domingo under flag of truce, but kept the other Frenchmen prisoners, there being no English prisoners available for exchange. The privateer was ''Hirondelle'', under the command of Captain La Place. She was armed with ten 4-pounder guns and had been out of San Domingo for two days. She had been active during the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
and for the past two years also, having frequently escaped pursuit due to her speed.
At the end of 1804, Captain Edward Hawker joined ''Tartar'' from and sailed her from Jamaica to the Halifax station. On 9 January 1805 ''Tartar'', in company with ''Surveillante'', captured the Spanish ship ''Batidor.''
In May 1805, ''Tartar'' dragged her anchors and drifted onto a reef, resulting in serious damage. As there were no dockyard facilities in Bermuda that could handle a large frigate, five shipwrights from Halifax volunteered to sail to Bermuda to try to refloat and repair the ship. They arrived on 7 June on board and began work on 9 June. The repairs took 6 weeks and ''Tartar'' sailed from Bermuda on 28 July in the company of . They arrived back in Halifax on 5 August 1805.
On 6 May 1806 ''Tartar'' captured the American brig ''Romulus''. Then on 9 June ''Tartar'' and the 10-gun cutter captured the , of 18 guns and 104 men, which was under the command of Captain Crozier. ''Observateur'' had sailed from Cayenne on 13 May with the brig-of-war ''Argus'', with provisions for a four-month cruise but had not captured anything. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Observateur''.
On 23 August ''Tartar'' captured the Charlestown
packet
Packet may refer to:
* A small container or pouch
** Packet (container), a small single use container
** Cigarette packet
** Sugar packet
* Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network
* Packet radio, a form ...
. Later in the year Captain Hawker exchanged with Captain Stephen Poyntz of and ''Tartar'' returned to England under reduced masts as a consequence of damage she had sustained in a hurricane.
''Tartar'' was paid off in October 1807. Then between October and April 1808 she underwent repairs, which cost £18,700.
Gunboat War
In October 1807, Captain George Bettesworth took command while ''Tartar'' was fitting out at Deptford for service in the Baltic. This was early in the
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...
between Britain and Denmark-Norway.
In what became known as the
Battle of Alvøen
The Battle of Alvøen was a naval battle of the Gunboat War between Denmark-Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was fought on 16 May 1808 in Vatlestraumen, outside Bergen in Norway, between the British frigate HMS ''T ...
, ''Tartar'' sailed to attack the Dutch frigate ''Guelderland'', of thirty-six 6 and 12-pounder guns, which had been reported to be in Bergen being repaired. ''Guederland'' had been escorting a small convoy to Batavia but then had to deviate to deal with a leak that she had developed.
''Tartar'' left Leith roads on 10 May 1808 and arrived off Bergen on the 12th, but heavy fog prevented her from getting closer until three days later. Unfortunately, by the time ''Tartar'' arrived, ''Guelderland'' had sailed more than a week earlier. Bettesworth nevertheless decided to send his boats into the harbour to cut out some merchant vessels and three privateers that were there. When the boats encountered heavy fire and discovered that a heavy chain protected the ships in the harbour, they and Bettesworth returned to ''Tartar''. However, as ''Tartar'' tried to withdraw, she came attack from the schooner ''Odin'' and between three and six gunboats (accounts differ). Cannon fire from the Norwegians killed Bettesworth and a midshipman, Henry FitzHugh, early in the action. A further twelve men were wounded before ''Tartar'' was able to complete her withdrawal. The Norwegians lost four men, and a gunboat.
Captain Joseph Baker replaced Bettesworth in May. On 3 November ''Tartar'' was escorting a convoy in the Naze of Norway. She was twelve leagues off Bovenbergen (Bovbjerg, Jutland) when she sighted a sloop that after a chase of three hours she captured. The sloop was the Danish privateer ''Naargske Gutten'', of seven 6 and 4-pounder guns and 36 men. She was quite new and only one day out from
Christiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
, without having made any captures. Six days later ''Tartar'' was in company with when they captured ''Jonge Minert''.
On 27 July 1808, ''Tartar'' was in company with when ''Cygnet'' captured the Dutch privateer ''Christiana''. ''Cygnet'' chased the privateer brig for nine hours before she could capture her. ''Christiana'' was a former British merchant brig now armed with twelve 12-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 long 9-pounder guns, and had a crew of 60 men. She had provisions for a one-month cruise and had sailed three days earlier from Christiana to intercept the homeward-bound Greenland-men off the north of Shetland.
Between 11 and 16 March 1809, ''Tartar'', , and captured sundry Danish vessels in the Baltic. On 13 March ''Tartar'' captured the Danish privateer ''Falcon'', while ''Ranger'' and ''Rose'' shared by agreement.
Three days later ''Tartar'' captured ''Kron Prince Frederick''. She was carrying a cargo of spices that the British
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
sold.
''Tartar'' shared with , , and in the capture on 8 April of ''Vergnugen'' and ''Gustaff''. The next day the same four warships captured ''Caroline'', and ''Tartar'', apparently alone, captured ''St Johannes''.
Then on 10 and 11 April, ''Tartar'' was in company with ''Orion'', ''Superb'' and ''Cruizer'' when they captured the Danish sloop ''Brigetta'' and the Prussian
galiot
A galiot, galliot or galiote, was a small galley boat propelled by sail or oars. There are three different types of naval galiots that sailed on different seas.
A ''galiote'' was a type of French flat-bottom river boat or barge and also a flat- ...
''Erwartnung''. At the end of the month, on 30 April, ''Tartar'' captured ''Charlotte'', with ''Superb'', , ''Vanguard'', , ''Constant'', , and being in sight. That same day ''Tartar'', ''Superb'' and ''Constant'' captured ''Maria Dorothea''.
On 15 May 1809, Baker and ''Tartar'' chased a Danish privateer sloop near Felixberg on the coast of
Courland
Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
. The sloop was armed with two 12-pounders on slides and two long 4-pounders, and carried a crew of 24. Her crew ran her ashore and then left her, taking their muskets up behind some sand hills where some local civilians joined them. Baker, concerned that the schooner might harm British trade, sent in his boats to bring her out or destroy her. The British cutting out party boarded the privateer, without loss despite the small arms fire from the beach, got her off the shore, and turned her guns on the beach. While the boarding party was securing the vessel, one of the men fortunately discovered a lighted candle set in a powder cartridge in the magazine and extinguished it when it had only a half an inch to burn. The privateer's
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
contained about a hundredweight of powder; had it exploded it would have killed the boarding party. The prize crew then brought the sloop off. The privateer was probably ''Felix''.
On 28 October 1809 captured ''Destrigheiden'', ''Rinaldine'', and a sloop, name unknown, while in the company of ''Tartar'' and . By agreement, Commander John Willoughby Marshall of ''Lynx'' and Baker of ''Tartar'' pooled their share of the prize money with that due Lieutenant Daniel Carpenter, the commander of ''Cheerful''.
On 13 April 1810 ''Tartar'' captured Crown Sloop ''No. 9''. Then four days later ''Tartar'' and were in sight when captured ''Enighied''.
''Tartar'' and were in company when they captured ''Twende Broders'' on 31 July. ''Tartar'' then captured ''Anna Maria Elizabeth'' and ''Enigheit'' on 6 and 7 August with ''Emanuel'' and ''Eliza Maria'' following on 11 and 10 August.
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 ...
warned Vice Admiral Sir
James Saumarez
Admiral of the Red James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez (or Sausmarez), GCB (11 March 1757 – 9 October 1836) was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, known for his victory at the Second Battle of Algeciras.
Early life
Saumarez was b ...
that the Danes were planning an attack on the island of Anholt, on which there was a small British garrison of which Maurice was the commander. Maurice received further confirmation of the attack on 8 March. Saumarez ordered ''Tartar'' and ''Sheldrake'' to sail to Anholt to provide support. They left Yarmouth on 20 March and anchored off the north end of the island on 26 March.
The next day the British garrison sighted the invasion force off the south side of the island. Maurice marched to meet them with a battery of howitzers and 200 infantry, but was not able to forestall a landing. He therefore pulled back to prepared positions and alerted ''Tartar'' and ''Sheldrake'' that the enemy was on shore. The two vessels immediately set sail, with ''Tartar'' going around one side of the island and ''Sheldrake'' the other. However, the shoals forced ''Tartar'' to swing wide, delaying her by many hours.
The Danes, who had eighteen heavy gunboats for support, had landed more than 1000 troops in the darkness and fog. They were poorly equipped and their attack was uncoordinated, with the result that the British batteries at Fort Yorke (the British base) and Massareenes stopped the assault. Gunfire from ''Tartar'' and ''Sheldrake'' forced the gunboats to move off westwards.
The gunboats made their escape over the reefs while the ships had to sail around the outside. ''Tartar'' chased three gunboats towards
Læsø
Læsø ("Isle of Hlér") is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') on that ...
but found herself in shoal water as night approached and gave up the chase. On the way back ''Tartar'' captured two Danish transports that she had passed while chasing the gunboats; one of them had 22 soldiers on board, with a considerable quantity of ammunition, shells, and the like, while the other contained provisions. ''Sheldrake'' managed to capture two gunboats.
About half of the Danish invasion force managed to board fourteen gunboats on the western side of Anholt and make their escape that way. The
Battle of Anholt
The Battle of Anholt (25–27 March 1811) was a successful British military operation under the command of James Wilkes Maurice against the Danish-held island of Anholt under the command of Jørgen Conrad de Falsen, taking place during the Gun ...
cost the British only two killed and 30 wounded. The Danes lost their commander, three other officers, and 50 men killed. The British captured, besides the wounded, five captains, nine lieutenants, and 504 rank and file, as well as three pieces of artillery, 500 muskets, and 6,000 rounds of ammunition. In addition, ''Sheldrake''s two captured gunboats resulted in another two lieutenants of the Danish Navy and 119 men falling prisoner.
The Danish troops came from the 2nd Battalion of Jutland Sharp Shooters, 4th Battalion 2d Regiment Jutland Jagers, and the 4th Battalion 1st Regiment Jutland Infantry. Maurice sent a flag of truce to Jutland offering to release the prisoners on their parole not to serve until exchanged. Baker proposed that if the Danish authorities agreed to these terms, that he would take all the prisoners to
Randers
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).
''Tartar'' grounded on 18 August 1811 on Dagö Island off the coast of Estonia and sprang a leak. Her crew was able to refloat her but she continued to fill with water. Baker then ran her ashore on 21 August at Kahar Islet, midway between Dagö Island and the Isle of Worms; he later burnt her to prevent her capture.
''Ethalion'' rescued all her crew, who then were reassigned to other ships on the Baltic station. A court martial on 23 October honorably acquitted Captain Baker, his officers, and crew of ''Tartar''s loss.
Curiously, there are prize money notices crediting ''Tartar'' and ''Ethalion'' with the capture on 11 September of ''Primus''.
Post script
On the Sunday prior to 6 November, a Russian
galiot
A galiot, galliot or galiote, was a small galley boat propelled by sail or oars. There are three different types of naval galiots that sailed on different seas.
A ''galiote'' was a type of French flat-bottom river boat or barge and also a flat- ...
that ''Tartar'' had captured was laying stranded at Montrose. The river had carried her and deposited her on the beach. A strong tide then lifted her, causing her to drift out to sea where she was dashed to pieces on the Ness (probably Scurdie Ness).''The Times'', 8 November 1811, p. 3.