HMS ''Tigress'' was a ''Courser''-class

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 ...

built for the British

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 ...

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

, and laid down in 1797 as ''GB No. 45''; she was renamed ''Tigress'' on 7 August the same year. She was sold on 20 January 1802.

Career

Lieutenant John Wyatt commissioned ''Tigress'' in November 1797. ''Tygress'' took part in the

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...

in 1799. On 28 August 1799, the fleet captured several Dutch hulks and ships in the New Diep, in Holland. ''Tigress'' was listed among the vessels qualifying to share in the prize money. ''Furnace'' was also present at the subsequent Vlieter Incident on 30 August. Lieutenant William H.B.Tremlett took command in 1800. She was part of the North Sea Fleet and so participated in the head money for the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. Admiral Lord Nelson, in letter, remarked on "with the exception of the glaring misconduct of the Officers of the Tigress and gun brigs". Unfortunately it is not clear what the glaring misconduct was. In 1801 Lieutenant William Davies took command of ''Tigress'' in the Baltic. On 20 and 21 August HMS ''Jamaica''s boats and several vessels were involved in action in the neighbourhood of

Étaples Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer (; vls, Stapel, lang; pcd, Étape) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river. History Étaples takes its name from having been a medieval ...

. On the evening of 20 August ''Jamaica'' was off Etaples when she heard cannon fire and lookouts saw a large fire. Captain

Jonas Rose Captain Jonas Rose was a Royal Navy officer during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He commanded at the Battles of Copenhagen in 1801 and 1807, and the operations in the Baltic that followed. On 16 June 180 ...

sailed to investigate, encountering , which informed him that the fire came from a cargo of pitch and tar on a vessel wrecked on the coast some time previously that boats from ''Hound'' and had set on fire. Six flat boats had come out of

Saint Valery Saint Walaric, modern French Valery (died 620), was a Frankish monk turned hermit who founded the . His cult was recognized in Normandy and England. Life Walaric was born in the Auvergne to a peasant family. Taught to read at a young age, he a ...

but ''Hound'' had forced them onshore, where they still lay. The following morning Rose sent in boats from ''Jamaica'', the brig sloops ''Hound'' and , and the gunbrigs ''Mallard'' and ''Tygress''. As the boats went in the ships themselves provide covering fire. The boats brought out two launches and a flat boat 45' long and 24' wide, armed with an 8" howitzer. However, the latter later sank; the other three on shore had already been so damaged that they were irretrievable, but the landing party still did as much further damage as time permitted. ''Tigress'' lost one man slightly wounded. Disposal: "The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Tigress, Gun Vessel 168 tons, lying at Sheerness" for sale on 20 January 1802. She was sold in January.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tigress (1797) 1797 ships Brigs of the Royal Navy