His Majesty's hired armed lugger ''Lark'' 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 3 January 1799 to 6 November 1801. She was armed with two 4-pounder guns and twelve 12-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s. She had a burthen of 170 tons ( bm), and a crew of 50 men and boys. At the end of her contract the Admiralty returned her to her owners.

Service

On 21 April 1800 Lieutenant Thomas Henry Wilson assumed command of ''Lark'', for the North Sea. Immediately before taking command of ''Lark'', Wilson had commanded in the Caribbean. On 21 April ''Lark'' engaged with an unknown French cutter that she drove on shore, but was not, however, able to destroy. A neutral vessel that came out on 23 April informed Wilson that the cutter carried 10 guns and 36 men, and that after she got off the shore she had sailed to the

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of De ...

roads along the inside of the barrier islands. Then on 25 April ''Lark'' captured the French privateer cutter ''Impregnable''. ''Lark'' ran the ''Impregnable'' on shore on Vlie Island where ''Impregnable's'' crew got ashore under the protection of about 100 troops who had gathered there. Wilson then sent his small boat to get ''Impregnable'' off. ''Lark's'' sailors came under musket fire from the troops on shore so Wilson sent his large boat, which cleared away the soldiers. ''Impregnable'' turned out to have been armed with twelve 3-pounder guns and two 9-pounder guns, and to have had a crew of 60. Circa 12 March 1801 the British fleet under Admiral Sir Hyde Parker sailed from Yarmouth roads for Copenhagen, with ''Lark'' among the "gun-brigs, cutters, etc." On 30 March Vice-admiral Lord

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, and Rear-admiral

Graves A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as gravey ...

, accompanied by Captain Domett and the commanding officer of the troops, sailed in ''Lark'' to reconnoiter the Danish defenses at Copenhagen. The Battle of Copenhagen then took place on 2 April; on 12 April the fleet sailed into the Baltic. In May Nelson sent ''Lark'' to ''Latona'' to await the arrival of Lord St Helens from his mission to arrange a peace treaty with Russia.

Postscript

On 22 July 1802 head money for those present at the "Engagement at Copenhagen" was due for payment. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Copenhagen 1801" to all still surviving participants in the battle.United Kingdom: Naval General Service Medal 1793-1840
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Citations and references

Citations References * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lark, Hired Armed Lugger Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy