Hired Armed Cutter Hero

Two vessels served the British Royal Navy as His Majesty's Hired armed cutter ''Hero''. Under the command of Lieutenant John Reynolds, the second hired armed cutter ''Hero'' captured some 30 merchantmen during the Gunboat War before the Royal Navy returned her to her owners. She was so successful that the Norwegian merchants offered a considerable reward for ''Hero's'' capture.

There was also an hired armed lugger ''Hero'', and a number of British letters of marque that carried the name ''Hero'', and that were cutters. None of the letter of marque cutters match the description of either hired armed cutter ''Hero''.

The first hired armed cutter ''Hero''

The first hired armed cutter ''Hero'' carried nine 12-pounder carronades and was of 77 tons ( bm). She served the Royal Navy from 20 August 1804 to 3 February 1805.

The second hired armed cutter ''Hero''

The second hired armed cutter ''Hero'' carried ten 12-pounder carronades and was of 119 tons (bm). She served the Royal Navy from 4 May 1809 to 11 November 1811.Winfield (2008), p.395.

Whilst under the command of Lieutenant John Reynolds, ''Hero'' commenced cruising in The Sleeve ( Kattegat) in 1809. On 14 November, three Danish sloops arrived at Leith, prizes to , the hired armed ship ''Charles'', and ''Hero''.

Some of her first captures included:
*Danish schooner No. 100 (2 November), in company with ;
*''Fortuna'' (4 November);Part of the money that accrued to ''Hero'' from this capture was from an abatement of duties on a cargo of deals (planks) from ''Fortuna''.-
*''Four Sisters'' (9 November), captured by the hired armed cutter ''Idas'' with ''Hero'' in company;
*''Emanuel'' (11 November);
*''Charlotta Maria'' (21 November);
*''Haabet'' (23 November);
*''Catharina Christiana'' (29 November); and
*''Jonge Frau Maria'' (9 January 1810).

In 1810 Reynolds discovered that Sälö Fjord, then little known to the British, was a good place of refuge during gales on the Swedish coast. He surveyed it and reported that it was busy.''The Gentleman's magazine'', Volume 31, p.207

In April ''Hero'' captured:
*''Mercurious'' (9 April);
*''Mette Catharine'' and ''Speculation'' (14 April);
*''Pedre Oxe'' (21 April).

On 21 October ''Hero'' captured ''Carl Frederick''. One month later, on 21 November 1810 ''Hero'' captured the ''Catharina Christiana''.

In early 1811 ''Hero'' met with more success in her prize-taking as she captured:
*''Klitloben'' (10 January);
*''Siri'' (10 March);
*Sloop No. 98 (14 March);
*''Haas Fagar'' and ''Emanuel'' (15 March);
*''Three Brothers'' (13 April);
*''Haabet'';
*''Schroeder'', ''Providentia'', ''Anna Maria Cecilia'', ''Maria Kirstina'', and ''Concordia'' (15 April);

However, on 25 April 1811 ''Hero'', while in the company of the Hired armed cutter ''Swan'', encountered three Danish gunboats in The Sleeve.Gossett (1986), pp.78-9.Anderson gives the day as 23 April, Winfield gives it as 24 April, and Gossett gives it as 25 April. ''Swan'' was forced to surrender but sank off Uddevalla, on the Swedish coast north of Gothenburg, almost immediately after the Danes boarded her. The battle apparently also resulted in damage to ''Hero''.Gossett has ''Hero'' being sunk, but does not report any court martial date. A frigate helped her into Vingo where she was repaired enough to sail to England for more complete repairs. She arrived at Dover on 7 May.

Still, on 14 July she captured ''Margaretta'', ''Ebenetzer'', and ''Sophie''. On 13 October she captured ''Fortuna''. On 22 July ''Hero'' was in company when the gun-brig captured ''Trajen'' and ''Freden''. Lastly, on 19 October she captured the Danish galliot ''Haabet''. She returned to Dover on 17 November from the Baltic having again been much damaged in an engagement with Danish gun boats.

Reynolds removed to the ''Nimble''-class cutter early in 1812. ''Nimble'' was wrecked in the Kattegat in October, near the Sälö Beacon, but with no loss of life.

Post script

Reportedly, ''Hero'' spent from end 1812 to 1814 re-fitting at Sheerness.Phillips, Michael - ''Ships of the Old Navy'' - ''Hero'' (1809)
/ref> If so, she was not on the rolls of the Royal Navy.

Hired armed lugger ''Hero''

The hired armed lugger ''Hero'' served the Royal Navy in 1809 and is described as being of 40 tons burthen.

British privateer cutter ''Hero''

On 18 July 1812, the Baltimore schooner ''Falcon'', of 172 tons, four guns and sixteen men, under the command of Captain John Wilson, was sailing from Boston to Bordeaux. Off the coast of France she encountered the "British cutter ''Hero''", of five guns and 50 men. ''Hero'' sailed off after failing in three attempts during the two-hour running fight to board ''Falcon''. This ''Hero'' may have been the cutter under the command of John Feaste, of 72 tons burthen, that sailed under a letter of marque dated 28 April 1812. (The letter further describes ''Hero'' as being armed with eight 3 and 6-pounder guns, and having a crew of 30 men.Letter of Marque, p.68 - accessed 25 July 2017.
/ref>

The next day the British privateer ''Dart'', of six guns and 40 men, succeeded in capturing ''Falcon'' after a fight of over an hour in which Wilson and several of his men were wounded. ''Dart'' then took ''Falcon'' into Guernsey.Maclay (2004), p.200. This may have been the cutter ''Dart'', under the command of Thomas Guilbert, of 114 tons burthen, armed with six 4-pounder guns and with a letter of marque dated 20 May 1812.

Notes

Citations

References

*Anderson, Roger Charles (1910) ''Naval wars in the Baltic: during the sailing-ship epoch, 1522-1850''. (London: C. Gilbert-Wood).
*Cranwell, John Philips, and William Bowers Crane (1940) ''Men of Marque: A History of Private Armed Vessels out of Baltimore During the War of 1812''. (New York: W.W. Norton).
*Gossett, William Patrick (1986) ''The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900''. (London: Mansell).
*
*Maclay, Edgar Stanton (2004) ''A History of American Privateers''. (Digital Antiquaria).
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hero, Hired armed cutter
Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy
1800s ships