Hired Armed Lugger Duke Of York

His Majesty's Hired armed lugger ''Duke of York'' served the Royal Navy from 14 October 1794 to 2 January 1799 when she foundered in the North Sea. She was of 57 tons ( bm) and was armed with eight 4-pounder guns.

She may have been the lugger by the same name that on 28 October 1793 received a letter of marque. That ''Duke of York'' was described as being under the command of Richard Mowle, having a burthen of 54 tons, being armed with six 4-pounder guns and six swivels, and having a crew of 23.

Service with the Royal Navy

On 31 January 1795 ''Duke of York'' was part of a squadron under Captain Sir John Borlase Warren that seized the Dutch East India Ship ''Ostenhuyson''.

On 26 February, ''Pomone'', under Captain Warren, captured a 12-gun schooner off the Île de Groix, near Lorient. She was the French Convention navy, American-built ''Coureuse'' and she was escorting a convoy of three brigs and two luggers from Brest to Lorient. The frigates ''Artois'' and ''Galatea'', and the ''Duke of York'' assisted ''Pomone'' in the capture. The British scuttled two of the brigs that were of little value, but took the other four vessels as prizes, with being taken into service briefly as a dispatch vessel in the Mediterranean.

In 1796 ''Duke of York'' sailed with Captain Sir Edward Pellew's squadron. The squadron captured or sank a number of merchant vessels between ll and 21 March.
*''Favorite Sultana'', laden with salt—captured;
*''Friends'', brig, laden with flour—captured;
*Brig of unknown name, in ballast—sunk;
* Chasse maree of unknown name, empty—sunk;
*''Providence'', chasse maree, laden with wine and brandy—captured;
*Brig of unknown name, laden with empty casks—sunk;
*''Four Marys'', brig, in ballast—captured;
*''Aimable Justine'', brig, in ballast—captured;
*''Nouvelle Union'', brig, in ballast—captured.

The vessels sharing in the prize money were: , , , , , the hired armed cutter ''Dolly'' and ''Duke of York''.

On 13 April 1796 ''Revolutionnaire'', one of Pellew's squadron, captured the French frigate ''Unité''. Then on 21 April ''Indefatigable'' captured the French 44-gun frigate ''Virginie'' off the Lizard. In July there was an initial distribution of prize money for the capture of ''Unite'' and ''Virginie'' of £20,000. ''Indefatigable'' shared this with ''Amazon'', ''Revolutionnaire'', ''Concorde'' and ''Argo''. Apparently ''Duke of York'' too shared in some or all of the prize money.

In December 1796 ''Duke of York'', under the command of Mr. Benjamin Sparrow, was still cruising with Pellew's small squadron of frigates off Brest, reporting the movements of the French fleet to the admiral of the British fleet, then cruising some distance of the Ushant. Between 16–17 December ''Duke of York'' observed the French fleet assemble after its departure from Brest and on the 17th Pellew sent her to Falmouth with despatches to report the news. She arrived in Falmouth on 20 December, followed closely by Pellew in ''Indefatigable''.

On 11 May 1797 ''Indefatigable'', in company with ''Phoebe'', , and ''Duke of York'', captured the ''Nouvelle Eugénie''. She was a razee privateer of 16 guns and carried a crew of 120 men. She was four days out of Nantes on a 30-day cruise, but had taken no prizes. The Navy took her into service as .

In July 1797 ''Duke of York'' shared in the capture of a French privateer in the Channel. The privateer's name was not recorded, but she was armed with two guns and had a crew of 25. ''Duke of York'' had chased the French vessel into the hands of the revenue cutter ''Hind'', which also retook a sloop the privateer had captured.

On 28 January 1798, ''Indefatigable'' and captured the privateer ''Heureuse Nouvelle''. She was armed with 22 guns and had a crew of 130 men. She was 36 days out of Brest and during that time had taken only one ship, a large American vessel named ''Providence'', which had a cargo of cotton and sugar. Pellew sent ''Cambrian'' in pursuit. ''Duke of York'' also shared in the capture.

On 2 January 1799 ''Duke of York'' was under the command of Master Benjamin Sparrow when she foundered in the North Sea.

Notes, citations and references

Notes

Citations

References

*Chapelle, Howard Irving (1967) ''The search for speed under sail, 1700-1855'' (New York: Norton).
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke Of York, Hired armed lugger
Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy
Maritime incidents in 1799
Shipwrecks in the North Sea