| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSGrouper |
| Ordered | 23 June 1803 |
| Builder | Goodrich & Co. (prime contractor),Bermuda |
| Laid down | 1803 |
| Launched | 1804 |
| Honours & awards | Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe"[1] |
| Fate | Wrecked 21 October 1811 |
| General characteristics[2] | |
| Type | Ballahoo-class schooner |
| Tons burthen | 7041⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 18 ft 0 in (5.5 m) |
| Depth of hold | 9 ft 0 in (2.7 m) |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
| Complement | 20 |
| Armament | 4 × 12-poundercarronades |
HMSGrouper was aRoyal NavyBallahoo-class schooner of four 12-poundercarronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., inBermuda, and she was launched in 1804.[2]Grouper was wrecked off Guadeloupe in 1811. This schooner was the only Royal Navy ship ever to use the name.
She was commissioned at Bermuda under Lieutenant Provo Hughes for the Leeward Islands. In 1807 her commander was Lieutenant Charles Chester Fitch.[2] On 8 June 1807Grouper captured the schoonerSophia.[3][a]
On 26 July 1807 His Majesty's schoonersGrouper andMaria captured the schoonerAtlantic.[5][b]
On 12 August 1809 she came under the command of Lieutenant James Atkins.[7]Grouper participated in the capture ofGuadeloupe and its dependencies in February 1810 and was engaged in the protection of trade. In 1847 her surviving crew members would qualify for the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe".
Grouper was wrecked on a reef off Guadeloupe on 21 October 1811.[2] At 5am she struck a reef three miles northwest of Carret Island, which lies to the west ofBaie-Mahault.[8] Her crew made rafts of the wreckage and abandonedGrouper. One marine drowned but the rest of the crew survived as she went to pieces after daybreak.[9] Some fisherman rescued Atkins from a piece of wreckage after he had been knocked about for some five hours. When rescued he was insensible from lacerations he had suffered.[7]
The subsequent court martial on 7 February 1812 reprimanded Atkins for his want of caution in lettingGrouper lie too close to land.[9] However, the board blamed the loss on the neglect of Midshipman Angus McLeod, the officer of the watch. He had neglected to post a look-out and had continued to sail though his orders were to lay-to.[9] McLeod was not punished as he had deserted, along with the quartermaster of the morning watch, when the survivors were landed atPointe-à-Pitre.
In June 1812, after the injuries he sustained onGrouper, the wounds he had suffered as Acting Master onGrenada, and 12 years in the West Indies, Atkins returned to England as a passenger onGloire. On 14 November Atkins was appointed to the 74-gunClarence,[7] which had been launched in April.
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