The hired armed

lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or several masts. They were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively i ...

''Daphne'' 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 ...

from 2 November 1794 to 19 December 1796. She was armed with twenty-two 4-pounder guns and was of 160 tons burthen ( bm)

Naval career

''Daphne'' apparently served at

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 ...

together with ''Aristocrat'' and ''Royalist'' in a small squadron under the command of Captain

Philippe d'Auvergne } Philippe d'Auvergne (13 November 1754 – 18 September 1816) was a British naval officer and the adopted son of Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne the sovereign Duke of Bouillon. He chose a career in the Royal Navy that spanned a period of history w ...

, in the 16-gun ''Firm''-class

floating battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

. ''Daphne''s commander was a Lieutenant Robert Pearson. She was employed maintaining communications with French Royalists in Normandy.

Possible origins

''Daphne'', of 160 tons (bm), was launched in 1787 at Poole, appeared in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' in 1793, but was not listed either in 1792 or in 1794. Her master was J. Banfield, her owner St Barbe & Co., and her trade London–Smyrna.''Lloyd's Register'' (1793), Seq.№D14.
/ref> Earlier, a lugger ''Daphne'' had received two letters of marque. The first, dated 30 July 1793, gave the name of her master as Patrick Henvey. It described her as being of 160 tons (bm), with a crew of 60 men. She was armed with eighteen 3-, 4-, and 6-pounder guns, and 10

swivel gun The term swivel gun (or simply swivel) usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun wi ...

s.Letter of Marque, - accessed 15 May 2011. The second letter, dated 13 November 1793, gave the name of her master as Peter Le Lacheur; the change in masters is the most likely cause of the issuance of a new letter.

Citations and references

Citations References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daphne, Hired armed lugger Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy