HMS Cossack (1806)

HMS ''Cossack'' was a Royal Navy of a nominal 22 guns, launched in 1806 at South Shields, England. She was ordered in January 1805 as HMS ''Pandour'' and launched under that name but her name was altered to ''Cossack'' during 1806. She served throughout the Napoleonic War, but appears to have seen little action. She was broken up at Portsmouth in June 1816.

Service

She was rated as a 22-gun ship and was intended to mount that number of long 9-pounder guns on her main deck. However, she also carried eight 24-pounder carronades and two long 6-pounders on her quarterdeck and forecastle. By the time that Captain George Digby commissioned her in early 1807, the Admiralty added two brass howitzers to her armament, while exchanging her 9-pounders for 32-pounder carronades. It also increased her complement by twenty to 175 officers, men, and boys.

''Cossack'' was at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She later shared in the prize money allotted for the capture of the Danish fleet. ''Cossack'' also shared in the proceeds of ''Minerva'', captured on 22 August 1807. Around this time, while ''Cossack'' was serving in the Little Belt, her boats captured a brig. However, the French succeeded in capturing one of the boats involved, killing two British sailors, wounding three, and capturing some others.

In June 1808 ''Cossack'' and went to St Andero to assist Spanish loyalists and bring off any British subjects. On 21 June boats from ''Cossack'' and ''Comet'' landed seamen and Royal Marines who spiked the guns of Fort St Salvador de Ano and Fort Sedra, near the town of St Andero, to prevent them falling into French hands.O'Byrne (1849), p.259. They also blew up two magazines, during which Captain Daly of ''Comet'' and Lieutenant Read of the Marines were injured when one of the magazines blew up.

By 29 June 1808 she was off France when she, ''Seine'', ''Comet'' and captured the French brig ''Pierre Caesar''. The Admiralty took ''Pierre Caesar'' into service as . Later, on 5 August, ''Cossack'' captured the schooner ''Mouche'' in the Channel. ''Lloyd's List'' reported that "the Mouche French National Schooner of one gun, four swivels, and 24 men, from Bayonne to the Havannah, with Dispatches, arrived at Plymouth, 27 instant, Prize to the Cossack SW."

Then in late March 1809 ''Cossack'' captured ''Celestene''. ''Lloyd's List'' reported on 31 March that the sloop of war ''Cossack'' arrived at Falmouth on 25 March with ''Celestine''. The French ship had come from the Isles of France with a valuable cargo. ''Cossack'' captured ''Celestine'' on 23 March about south west of the Lizard; in the chase ''Celestine'' had thrown 16 guns overboard.''Lloyd's List'

- accessed 19 December 2013.

In November 1810 Captain Thomas Garth (Royal Navy), Thomas Garth replaced Digby. His replacement, in April 1811, was Captain Thomas Searle. In February 1812 Captain William King took command. On 7 June he sailed ''Cossack'' for Portugal.

In February 1813 Captain Francis Stanfell replaced King.Winfield (2008), p.236. Under Stanfell ''Cossack'' escorted a convoy to Jamaica and then served on the North America station where she was damaged in a storm.

In March 1814 Captain Edward Silby replaced Stanfell, and four months later Captain James Erskine Wemyss replaced Silby. One month later, in August, Captain the Honourable Robert Rodney took command. On 19 March 1815, ''Cossack'' assisted the American schooner ''Thistle'', earning for herself a share of the salvage money. ''Cossack''s last commander was Captain Lord Algernon Percy, who took command in August 1815. Under Percy, ''Cossack'' served on the North American station.

Fate

''Cossack'' was broken up at Portsmouth in June 1816.

Footnotes

Citations

References

* Colledge, J.J. ''Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. .
* O'Byrne, William R. (1849) ''A Naval Biographical Dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive''. (London: J. Murray), vol. 1.
* Raymond, David J. (2010) ''The Royal Navy in the Baltic from 1807 to 1812''. Florida State University, Dept. of History, Unpublished PhD Dissertation.
* Winfield, Rif. ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''. Seaforth Publishing, 2nd edition, 2008. .

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cossack (1806)
Banterer-class post ships
1806 ships
Ships built by Temple shipbuilders