View source for HMS Peruvian (1808)

{{short description|Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
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|Ship image=COLUMBINE 1806 RMG J5090.png
|Ship caption=''Peruvian''
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Peruvian''
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|Ship builder=Parson's Yard, [[Warsash]]
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|Ship launched=1808
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|Ship commissioned=May 1808
|Ship decommissioned=July 1816
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|Ship fate=Broken up, February 1830
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|Ship class={{sclass|Cruizer|brig-sloop}}
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|Ship tons burthen=384 [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]
|Ship length={{Convert|100|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
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|Ship complement=121
|Ship armament=*16 × 32-pounder [[carronade]]s
*2 × 6-pounder [[chase gun|bow guns]]
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'''HMS ''Peruvian''''' was an 18-gun {{sclass|Cruizer|brig-sloop}} launched in 1808 at Parson's Yard, [[Warsash]], England. She was the first naval vessel built at that yard. ''Peruvian'' captured two American privateers and participated in an expedition up the [[Penobscot River]] during the [[War of 1812]]. Then she claimed [[Ascension Island]] for Great Britain in 1815. She was broken up in 1830.

==Napoleonic Wars==
Commander Francis Douglas commissioned her in May 1808 for [[The Downs (ship anchorage)|the Downs]].<ref name=Winfield>Winfield (2008), p.299.</ref> Douglas had been [[First Lieutenant|first lieutenant]] of [[HMS Repulse (1780)]] at the [[Spithead and Nore mutinies#The Nore|mutiny]] at [[The Nore]] in 1797.<ref>[http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/francis_douglas3.htm Commander Francis Douglas], douglashistory.co.uk, accessed 15 August 2011</ref>

On 19 February 1809 ''Peruvian'' was in company with the sloop [[HMS Osprey (1797)|''Osprey'']] when ''Osprey'' captured the ''Vrouw Gesina''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16279|date=25 July 1809|page=1186}}</ref> In May ''Peruvian'' captured the ''Commerce'', Rook, master, and sent her into [[The Downs (ship anchorage)|The Downs]].<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1809/05-19-1809.jpg] - accessed 16 December 2013.</ref>

Then on 14 January 1810 ''Peruvian'' sailed for the [[Leeward Islands]]. Three days later ''Peruvian'' was in sight, and so entitled to share, together with a number of other vessels, in the prize money arising from the recapture of the ''Toms'' by [[HMS Hyperion ()|''Hyperion'']].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16584|date=17 March 1812|page=525}}</ref> In November 1810 Commander Francis Dickinson took command, but he died on 23 April 1812.<ref name=Winfield/>

==War of 1812==
In 1812 ''Peruvian'' was under Lieutenant Amos F. Westropp, in the West Indies.<ref name=Winfield/> He was promoted to Commander in August. On 12 October 1812, ''Peruvian'' captured the sloop ''Prevyonte''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16713|date=20 March 1813|page=581}}</ref> Twelve days later ''Peruvian'' captured the American privateer schooner ''Yankee'' off [[Sombrero, Anguilla]]. ''Yankee'' had 7 guns and a crew of 44 men. She was 38 days out of [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]], but had made no captures.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16688|date=2 January 1813|page=31}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17121|date=23 March 1816|page=560}}</ref> ''Peruvian'' sent ''Yankee'' into Antigua.<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1813/01-01-1813.jpg] - accessed 16 December 2013.</ref> American records state that the privateer was ''Yankee American'', 77 tons burthen, T. Pillsbury, master.<ref>Emmons (1853), p. 196.</ref>

In 1813, under Commander George Kippen, ''Peruvian'' was on the [[North America and West Indies Station|American Station]].<ref name=Winfield/> On 6 February, she was returning to her station from [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]], when around {{convert|79|mile|spell=in}} east by north of Sombrero, she encountered an American privateer. During the last two hours of the 15-hour chase, the privateer used her stern guns to fire continuously at ''Peruvian''. Eventually ''Peruvian'' got within pistol shot and fired her bow guns, with her marines also firing. The privateer surrendered. She turned out to be ''John'', of 16 guns and a crew of 100 men.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16712|date=16 March 1813|page=550}}</ref> ''John'', of Salem, was under the command of Captain James M. Fairfield and was on her second cruise.<ref>Emmons (1853), p.182.</ref> At the time of the capture ''Peruvian'' was apparently in company with {{HMS|Cumberland|1807|2}}.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17043|date=22 July 1815|page=1492}}</ref> The report in ''Lloyd's List'' describes ''John'' as having 20 guns and 93 men and surrendering after a chase of 13 hours. ''Peruvian'' sent ''John'' into St Thomas, where she arrived on 10 February 1813.<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1813/03-23-1813.jpg] - accessed 16 December 2013.</ref> The head money bill specified that 90 men had been captured.<ref>{{cite web |title=Head money voucher (image) |url=http://www.1812privateers.org/United%20States/JOHN/voucher.jpg |access-date=17 December 2013 |postscript=(shows taken 6 February 1813). |archive-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219004928/http://www.1812privateers.org/United%20States/JOHN/voucher.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 6 May the ''William'', of Wilmington, Holman, master, arrived at Antigua as a prize to ''Peruvian''.<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1813/07-16-1813.jpg] - accessed 16 December 2013.</ref> On 8 November, ''Peruvian'' was at St Thomas with {{HMS|Marlborough|1807|2}}, {{HMS|Venus|1807|2}}, and {{HMS|Espiegle|1812|2}} to gather a convoy of some 40 merchant to convoy back to Britain.<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1813/12-28-1813.jpg] - accessed 16 December 2013.</ref>

In August 1814, ''Peruvian'' took part in an expedition up the [[Penobscot River]] in Maine. She joined {{HMS|Sylph|1812|2}}, {{HMS|Dragon|1798|2}}, {{HMS|Endymion|1797|2}}, {{HMS|Bacchante|1811|2}}, as well as some transports. {{HMS|Bulwark|1807|2}}, {{HMS|Tenedos|1812|2}}, {{HMS|Rifleman|1809|2}}, and {{HMS|Pictou|1814|2}} also joined. On the evening of 31 August, ''Sylph'', ''Peruvian'', and the transport ''Harmony'', accompanied by a boat from ''Dragon'', embarked marines, foot soldiers and a detachment from the Royal Artillery, to move up the Penobscot under the command of Captain Robert Barrie of ''Dragon''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16944|date=9 October 1814|pages=2029–2033}}</ref>  The objective was the American frigate {{USS|Adams|1799|2}}, of twenty-six 18 pounders, which had taken refuge some 27 miles up stream at [[Hampden, Maine]]. Here ''Adams'' had landed her guns and fortified a position on the bank with fifteen 18-pounders commanding the river. Moving up the river took two days, but eventually, after the [[Battle of Hampden]], the British were able to capture the American defenders at [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]], though not until after the Americans had burnt the ''Adams''. The British also captured 11 other ships and destroyed six. The British lost only one man killed, a sailor from ''Dragon'', and had several soldiers wounded.<ref>''The Anglo-American Magazine'',  (Toronto: Maclear), Vol. 5, pp.418-9.</ref>

In October 1814 Commander James Kearney White took over command.<ref name=Winfield/> On 22 December ''Peruvian'' detained the Spanish vessel ''Dolores'', which was condemned as a "''droit'' of Admiralty".<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17473|date=1 May 1819|page=760}}</ref>

Around 21 January 1815 ''Peruvian'' sent into Bermuda the ''Rufus'', King, master, which had been sailing from Charleston to Bordeaux.<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1815/03-14-1815.jpg] - accessed 17 December 2013.</ref> On 8 April ''Peruvian'' left Bermuda for home.

==The news of Waterloo==
By mid-June she was at [[Ostend]]. From there she carried [[Henry Percy (British Army officer)|Major the Hon. Henry Percy]] of the [[14th Light Dragoons]], the only aide to the [[Duke of Wellington]] to have survived [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]] unscathed, into the middle of the Channel, where she was becalmed. White lowered ''Peruvian''{{'}}s gig, chose four stalwart men from his crew, took an oar himself and handed one to Percy, who had learned how to row at [[Eton College|Eton]], and with two captured [[French Imperial Eagle#Captured eagles|French Eagles]] lying in the stern, rowed  for the Kent coast. Around 3 p.m. on 21 June, they arrived near [[Broadstairs]], where Percy and White immediately took a [[chaise|post-chaise]]-and-four to deliver the news to London.<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.historykb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/british-history/848/The-Battle-of-Waterloo-Was-Reported-On-The-Boating-Lakes
 |title=The Battle of Waterloo Was Reported On The Boating Lakes Of Eton
 |work=historykb.com
 |access-date=30 September 2010
 |archive-date=11 July 2011
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711171817/http://www.historykb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/british-history/848/The-Battle-of-Waterloo-Was-Reported-On-The-Boating-Lakes
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

==Ascension Island==
''Peruvian'', still under Captain White, together with her sister ship {{HMS|Zenobia|1807|2}}, under Captain Nicholas Charles Dobree, had been part of the flotilla under Rear Admiral [[George Cockburn]] that had taken [[Napoleon]] into his final exile at [[Saint Helena|St Helena]].<ref>''Lloyd's List'',[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1815/08-15-1815.jpg] - accessed 17 December 2013.</ref> (On the way ''Peruvian'' had had to make a detour to [[Guernsey]] to pick up a supply of French wine for Napoleon.)

Cockburn was concerned that the French might use [[Ascension Island]], uninhabited at the time,<ref name="ascension-island.gov.ac">{{cite web|url=http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/aig/ascension-island-about.htm|title=About Ascension Island|publisher=Ascension Island Government|access-date=2009-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001140455/http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/aig/ascension-island-about.htm |archive-date=2007-10-01}}</ref> to stage a rescue mission. He therefore decided to claim and garrison the island. On 22 October 1815, at 5pm, ''Peruvian'' and ''Zenobia'' anchored in Clarence Bay. The ships' logs record that at 5.30pm, White and Dobree came ashore, raised the [[Union Flag|Jack]], and took possession of the island in the name of [[Britannic Majesty|His Britannic Majesty]], [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]]. ''Zenobia'' left shortly thereafter but ''Peruvian'' stayed until spring.<ref>Watson (1912), p.245.</ref>

Napoleon died on St Helena in 1821 and the Admiralty wanted to withdraw the garrison. However, Sir [[Sir George Collier, 1st Baronet|George Collier]], Commodore of the [[West Africa Squadron]], persuaded the Admiralty to retain it as it had become a victualling station for the vessels of the squadron, which was engaged in anti-slavery patrols. It also provided a [[sanatorium]] for the squadron's ships and crew.

Ascension Island was later designated "HMS ''Ascension''", a "Stone sloop of War of the smaller class".<ref name="ascension-island.gov.ac"/>

==Fate==
By July 1816 ''Peruvian'' was laid up in [[reserve fleet|ordinary]] at Plymouth where she stayed until 1830.<ref name=Winfield/>  She was broken up on 25 February 1830.<ref name=Winfield/>

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* Colledge, J.J. (1987) ''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). {{ISBN|0-87021-652-X}}.
*Emmons, George Foster (1853) ''The navy of the United States, from the commencement, 1775 to 1853; with a brief history of each vessel’s service and fate ... Comp. by Lieut. George F. Emmons ... under the authority of the Navy Dept. To which is added a list of private armed vessels, fitted out under the American flag ... also a list of the revenue and coast survey vessels, and principal ocean steamers, belonging to citizens of the United States in 1850''. (Washington: Gideon & Co.)
*Watson, George Leo de St M (1912) ''A Polish exile with Napoleon : embodying the letters of Captain Piontkowski to General Sir Robert Wilson and many documents from the Lowe papers, the Colonial office records, the Wilson manuscripts, the Capel Lofft correspondence, and the French and Genevese archives hitherto unpublished''. (London & New York: Harper & Brothers).
* Winfield, Rif (2008) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1815: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''. (Seaforth Publishing), 2nd Edition. {{ISBN|978-1-84415-717-4}}.

{{Cruizer class brig-sloop}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peruvian (1808), HMS}}
[[Category:1808 ships]]
[[Category:Cruizer-class brig-sloops]]
[[Category:War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom]]