His Majesty's
hired armed cutter ''Queen Charlotte'' served 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 ...
on two contracts, the first from 10 June 1803 to 13 February 1805, and the second from 17 September 1807 to 17 May 1814.
[Winfield (2008), p.391.] She was of 75 tons
(bm) and carried eight 4-pounder guns.
[ There was also a cutter ''Queen Charlotte'' that was present at the taking of ]Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
in May 1796 by British forces under Sir Hugh Christian and Sir Ralph Abercrombie
Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...
.
First contract
On her first contract ''Queen Charlotte'' may initially have been under the command of Lieutenant John Drew,[Newfoundland squadrons (1801-1805)]
/ref>
On 17 July 1803 , and ''Queen Charlotte'' captured ''Caroline''. Then on 28 July, the same three vessels recaptured from the French the brig ''Mercure'', which apparently was British-built and once called ''Mercury''. In November ''Queen Charlotte'' was under the command of Lieutenant John G.M.B. McKillop.Erasmus Gower
Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (3 December 1742 – 21 June 1814) was a Welsh naval officer and colonial governor.
Naval career
Gower, aged 13, joined the Royal Navy in 1755 under the patronage of his uncle, Captain John Donkley. He was present at ...
, then Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, sent ''Queen Charlotte'', under Lieutenant Isaac H. Morrison, to Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
to investigate reports of an influx of American fishing boats. As a result of the report, the Admiralty decided to station a sloop in the fishing waters to chase off the Americans. In October Morrison transferred to command the newly-launched schooner ,[ which was, however, a smaller vessel. His replacement in 1805 was Lieutenant John Brown.][
]
Second contract
On 26 October 1807 Tsar Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son of ...
declared war on Great Britain. The official news did not arrive in the United Kingdom until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports. ''Queen Charlotte'' was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate ''Speshnoy'' (''Speshnyy''), then in Portsmouth harbour. The British seized the Russian storeship ''Wilhelmina'' at the same time.
Later, ''Queen Charlotte'' was under master Mr Joseph Thomas when on 22 July 1810 she recaptured ''William''. Then on 29 August near Alderney
Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide.
The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...
''Queen Charlotte'' encountered a French vessel of sixteen 12-pounder guns. After a fight of an hour and a half, the French sailed away. ''Queen Charlotte'' had one man killed and 14 wounded out of her total complement of 27, including her master and a passenger.[ James reports the French vessel as having sixteen 6-pounders and a crew of 120.][James (1837), Vol. 5, pp.340-1.] The passenger was a Mr P.A. Mulgrave, who had been employed in establishing a telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
between Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
and the British fleet of Cherbourg. He was wounded above the eye while firing a musket but remained on deck, helping with ammunition, during the whole fight.[ Seven years earlier master J. Thomas had been second in command of the hired armed cutter ''Princess Augusta'' during a less bloody but equally lop-sided and ultimately equally successful action.
Later reports have ''Queen Charlotte'' conveying vessels between Portsmouth and the ]Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
.
On 15 June 1812 ''Queen Charlotte'' was in company with the hired armed lugger ''Sandwich'' when ''Sandwich'' captured the French privateer ''Courageux''. ''Courageux'' was armed with two guns and carried a crew of 24 men. She was four days out of Brehat and had not captured anything.
Notes
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Charlotte, Hired armed cutter
Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy
1800s ships