Hired Armed Cutter King George

The Royal Navy used several vessels that were described as His Majesty's hired armed cutter ''King George''. Some of these may have been the same vessel on repeat contract.

First hired armed cutter ''King George''

The first ''King George'' was a cutter of 128 tons ( bm), carrying twelve 4-pounder guns. She served from 24 June 1796 to 1799. In 1797 she was under the command of under Lieutenant James Rains.
May saw her participating in the capture of the French privateer ''Adolphe'', together with and . ''King George'' had led the chase with ''Nautilus'' and ''Seagull'' joining in for another four hours before ''Nautilus'' succeeded in capturing ''Adolpe''. ''Adolphe'' was pierced for 12 guns but had thrown some overboard during the chase. When the British captured her, ''Adolphe'' had five guns, eight swivels, and a crew of 35. She was new, nine days out of Boulogne on her first cruise and had not taken any prizes.

On 2 July ''Nautilus'', ''Seagull'', ''King George'' and the hired armed cutter ''Fox'' captured the Dutch privateer ''Klyne Sperwer'', of 28 men, 20 of whom escaped in boats. ''Klyne Sperwer'' was armed with six 3-pounder guns, swivel guns, muskets, and the like. She had a crew of 28 men, 20 of whom escaped in boats. She had been out a month from
Amsterdam but had taken nothing.

Three weeks later, on 23 July, after a three-hour chase, ''King George'' and ''Seagull'' captured the French privateer ''Captain Thurot'' near Christiansand. ''Captaine Thurot'' was a small French privateer cutter armed with two brass 6-pounders and four swivels, and had a crew of 22. She had already captured the ship ''Tom'', of Liverpool, from Riga, with timber, and the brig ''Bachelor'', of Saltcoats in Scotland. ''Nautilus'' shared with ''Seagull'' by a private agreement.

On 9 October ''King George'' sailed from Yarmouth for the Texel and on 11 October participated in the Battle of Camperdown. On 12 February 1798 prize money resulting from the sale of Dutch ships captured on 11 October 1797 was due for payment. In 1847 the surviving members of the crews of all the British vessels at the battle qualified for the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Camperdown".

Second hired armed cutter ''King George''

The second ''King George'' may well have been the same vessel. She was of 133 tons (bm), and mounted twelve 12-pounder carronades. She served from 22 November 1799 until 23 October 1801. On 16 February 1800 ''King George'' recaptured the brig ''Perth''.

On 28 January 1801, while under the command of Lieutenant William Isaac Pearce, she captured the French privateer ''Flibustier'' in the Downs station. ''Flibustier'' was two days out of Dunkirk, had made no captures, and carried a crew of 16, armed with muskets and pistols. Prize money resulting from the capture of ''Flibustier'' was due to be paid on 18 April 1803.

Earlier that month, ''King George'' had detained the ''Vrow Jesina'', Diericke, master, which had been sailing from Hambro to Liverpool. ''Vrow Jesina'' was lost off Dover, but part of her cargo was saved.

In late 1801 ''King George'', under the command of a Mr. Yawkins, served under Nelson at Nelson's failed attack on Boulogne.{{efn, In 1797 Yawkins had served with Nelson, who knew him personally, at Cadiz. On 25 August Nelson came aboard ''King George'' to conduct a reconnaissance of the French fleet. In October Nelson gave Lieutenant William Fitzwilliam Owen of the fire ship {{HMS, Nancy, 1794, 2 command over the ''King George'' as well, with secret instructions to launch a burning ''Nancy'' at the French fleet. The fire attack did not occur and ''Nancy'' was sold in December.

Third hired armed cutter ''King George''

The third ''King George'' was a smaller vessel than her predecessor(s). She was a former packet boat of 58 {{small, {{frac, 47, 94 tons (bm), and carried six 4-pounder guns. She served from 30 May 1803 to 15 December 1804, and again from 17 September 1807 until 18 May 1814.

First contract

In 1803 she was under the command of a Lieutenant Brown. On 25 May ''King George'' was part of a squadron of six vessels that captured the ''Matilda''.{{London Gazette, issue=16160, page=949, date=5 July 1808

In July and August 1804 ''King George'' participated in the squadron under Captain Robert Dudley Oliver in {{HMS, Melpomene, 1794, 6 at the bombardment of French vessels at Le Havre. The bomb vessels' shells and carcasses set the town on fire on 23 July. On 1 August, the vessels kept a continuous fire for three hours. Still, it is not clear that the bombardment did much damage to the French flotilla. On 31 July the squadron did capture the French vessel ''Papillon''.

''King George'' also shared in the capture, on 15 September, of the ''Flora de Lisboa'', off Havre.{{London Gazette, issue=15925, page=704, date=3 June 1806

Second contract

On 17 August 1807 ''King George'' was among the vessels sharing in the capture of the ''Hans and Jacob''. Then four days later ''King George'' was among the vessels that captured the ''Twee Gebroders''.{{efn, An able seaman's share of the prize money for the first was 2 s 6 d, and for the second 9½d.

In her second contract, ''King George'', under the command of Master's Mate Thomas Mercer, participated in the Battle of the Basque Roads. William Congreve, who had arrived with a transport, fitted ''King George'', {{HMS, Whiting, 1805, 2 and the other hired armed cutter, ''Nimrod'', with rockets. On 11 April the three vessels took up a position near the Boyart (see Fort Boyard) Shoal while fireships made a night attack on the French ships. The next day all three, together with a number of other vessels, opened fire upon ''Océan'', ''Régulus'', and the frigate ''Indienne'', as those ships lay aground. The first two eventually escaped, and the last was one of four eventually destroyed, though by her own crew some days later to avoid capture.{{efn, Head money was paid in March 1819. An ordinary seaman received 13 shillings; a first-class share was worth £86 13s 2¼ d. In 1847 the surviving members of the crews of all the British vessels at the battle qualified for the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809". Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford sent ''King George'' back to England with dispatches.

On 24 November 1809 ''King George'' captured a Danish galiot whose name later was established as the ''Texel''. Then on 14 January 1810 she recaptured the ''Drie Gebroeders'', J.F. Learman, Master.

On 10 March 1811, while under command of Thomas Mercer, Master, she was in company with {{HMS, Desiree, 1800, 2 when they captured the French privateer cutter ''Velocifere''. ''Velocifere'' was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 57 men.

On 10 March 1812 ''King George'' and Mr. Thomas Mercer were in company with {{HMS, Prospero, 1809, 2, {{HMS, Aquilon, 1786, 2 and {{HMS, Raven, 1805, 2 when they captured the American brig ''John''. Then on 27 June ''King George'' captured the ''Jonge Antonio''.

On 17 September 1812, ''King George'' captured the merchant vessel ''Friede'', and was present when ''Desiree'' captured the merchant vessel ''Dasikbaarheit''. On 19 September {{HMS, Hearty, 1805, 2 was in company with ''Desiree'' and ''King George'' when they captured the ''Friede''. Two days later ''Hearty'' and ''King George'' captured the ''Frau Maria''.

On 12 May 1813 ''King George'' captured off Lowestoff the small French privateer ''Elise'' (or ''Eliza''). The ''Eliza'' had a crew of 15 men, armed with small arms. She had been out three days without capturing anything, and came into Yarmouth the next day.

On 18 October 1813, ''King George'' captured the ''Director'' and the ''Elizabeth''. Then on 15 December ''King George'' captured the ''Alexandria''.

Fourth hired armed cutter ''King George''

The fourth ''King George'' may have been the same vessel as one or the other, or both, of the first two. She was of 129 {{small, {{frac, 27, 94 tons burthen and carried twelve 12-pounder carronades. She served from 22 August 1803 until 25 September 1804 when she grounded and her crew set her on fire to prevent her capture.

In 1804 ''King George'' had officially been renamed ''Georgiana'' (though the continuing reference to her under her old name suggests that this had not taken universally), and was under the command of Lieutenant Joshua Kneeshaw. Earlier, on 25 May 1804 she was in company with a number of British vessels at the capture of the ''Matilda''. Then on 31 July ''King George'' was in company with a much larger flotilla at the capture of the ''Postilion''.

On 7 August the flotilla, including ''King George'', entered the mouth of the Seine to bombard a French flotilla of gun-brigs and luggers. On 15 September, a number of ships and vessels, including ''King George'', participated in the capture by {{HMS, Poulette, 1799, 2 of the ''Flora de Lisboa'', taken off Le Havre.

On 25 September ''Georgiana'' had harried a sloop in a small convoy that had left Le Havre and was making for Honfleur, forcing the sloop to run aground, just before she herself ran aground on the western end of the Ratier bank. When efforts to lighten her failed to free her, and several French gunboats and luggers approached, her crew set her on fire.Hepper (1994), p.106. The crew escaped in boats, pursued by French boats firing on them until the gun-brig {{HMS, Locust, 1801, 2 drove the French off. ''Georgiana'' blew up around 6pm. The court martial on 17 November praised Kneeshaw and his crew for their conduct and acquitted them of the loss. Kneeshaw was a veteran officer who had lost an arm in service; he received a pension of £200 per annum.

Hired armed cutter ''King George the Second''

On 6 October 1803, the hired armed cutter ''King George the Second'' was under the command of Lieutenant Francis Gybbon when she recaptured ''British Tar''. ''Lloyd's List'' initially reported that {{HMS, Beaver, 1795, 6 had recaptured ''British Tar''. The newspaper also reported that ''British Tar'' had been sailing from the Baltic to Leith when a privateer had taken her in the North Sea. ''British Tar'' arrived in "the river" after her recapture.

Other vessels named ''King George'' in government service

On 27 April 1804 the French privateer ''Hirondelle'', of fourteen 12-pounders and 80 crew, captured the Government of Malta brig or cutter ''King George'' off Cape Passero. {{HMS, Bittern, 1796, 2 captured ''Hirondelle'' and recaptured two brigs that she had taken, ''Mentor'', of London, and ''Catherine'', of Liverpool. They had been sailing with valuable cargoes from Messina to Malta to join a convoy. ''Bittern''{{'s launch rowed 15 leagues to try to recapture ''King George'' but were too late.

On 28 September 1804 the Navy armed 16 hoys at Margate for the defence of the coast. One of these bore the name ''King George''. The Navy manned each vessel with a commander from the Navy and nine men from the Sea Fencibles.''Naval chronicle'', (1804) Volume 12, p.329,

See also

* Hired armed cutter ''George''
* HMS ''King George V''

Notes

{{Notelist

Citations

{{reflist, 30em

References

{{refbegin
*{{Citation, last=Grocott, first=Terence, year=1997, title=Shipwrecks of the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, publisher=Chatham, isbn=1-86176-030-2
*{{cite book, last=Hepper, first=David J., year=1994, title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859, publisher=Jean Boudriot, location=Rotherfield, isbn=0-948864-30-3
*{{cite book, last = James, first = William, author-link = William James (naval historian), year = 1837, title = The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV., publisher = R. Bentley, volume =5
*{{cite book , first=Rif, last=Winfield, title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, publisher=Seaforth, year=2008, isbn=1-86176-246-1
{{refend

{{WarshipHist
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Hired armed cutter ''King George''

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Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy