 HMSMoselle in Charleston Bay 1813[a] | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSMoselle |
| Ordered | 7 November 1803 |
| Builder | John King, Dover |
| Laid down | March 1804 |
| Launched | October 1804 |
| Fate | Sold 1815 |
| General characteristics[2] | |
| Type | Cruizer-class brig-sloop |
| Tons burthen | 385 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 30 ft 7 in (9.3 m) |
| Depth of hold | 12 ft 9 in (3.9 m) |
| Sail plan | Brig rigged |
| Complement | 121 |
| Armament |
|
HMSMoselle was aCruizer-classbrig-sloop of theRoyal Navy, launched in 1804. She served during theNapoleonic Wars in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the North American station. She was sold in 1815.
Commander Robert Simpson commissioned her in December 1804 forthe Downs.[2] CommanderJohn Surnam Carden replaced Simpson on 21 December 1804.[3]Moselle shared withPenelope andBoadicea in the proceeds of theJonge Obyna, Smidt, master, on 13 June.[b] That same day they also captured theSophia.[5] The final payment forJonge Obyna andSophia did not get paid out until June 1817.[c]
After AdmiralLord Nelson defeated the French and Spanish fleets at thebattle of Trafalgar on 21 October,Moselle was at the blockade of Cadiz. On 25 November,Thunderer detained theRagusan shipNemesis, which was sailing fromIsle de France toLeghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice,indigo dye, and other goods.[7]Moselle shared the prize money with ten other British warships.[8]
In the aftermath of Trafalgar, four French frigates and the brigFuret took refuge at Cadiz, where they remained into February 1806. To try to lure them out, Vice-AdmiralCuthbert Collingwood pulled his ships-of-the-line tenleagues out to sea, leaving only the frigateHydra, under the Captain George Mundy, andMoselle in close blockade. On 23 February a strong easterly wind drove the British off their station, which led the French commander, CaptainLouis-Charles-Auguste Delamarre de Lamellerie, to seize the opportunity to escape. On the evening of 26 FebruaryHydra andMoselle were three leagues west of the Cadiz lighthouse when they sighted the French vessels. Mundy began firing rockets and alarm guns to alert Collingwood, while sailing parallel to the escaping French squadron. Mundy then sent Carden inMoselle to try locate the British fleet. On the morning of 27 FebruaryMoselle reached Collingwood, who dispatched three frigates to try to catch the French. In the meantime,Hydra had managed to isolate the French brig from her companions, and after a two-hour chase, capturedFuret. The French frigates did not come to their brig's aid, and after firing apro forma broadside,Furet surrendered.[9] Under the rules of prize-money,Moselle shared in the proceeds of the capture ofFuret.[10] During the next six months,Lamellerie's frigate squadron cruised the Atlantic, visitingSenegal,Cayenne and theWest Indies, but failed significantly to disrupt British trade.
On 22 January 1806 Commander Alexander Gordon was appointed to replace Carden.[11] However, on 30 January Carden was still in command whenMoselle capturedHope, Webber, master, which was condemned as a prize at Gibraltar.[12]
Later in 1806Moselle was apparently in the Gulf of Mexico. Lieutenant J. Lamont was severely wounded while boarding an enemy vessel there.[1]
Gordon sailedMoselle for the Mediterranean on 7 January 1807. She returned home by the end of 1807.[2]
On 26 October 1807, TsarAlexander I of Russia declared war on Great Britain. The official news did not arrive there until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports.Moselle was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigateSpeshnoy (Speshnyy), then in Portsmouth harbour. The British seized the Russian storeshipWilhelmina (Vilghemina) at the same time.[13] The Russian vessels were carrying the payroll for Vice-AdmiralDmitry Senyavin’s squadron in the Mediterranean.[14][d]
Moselle then sailed for Jamaica on 16 January 1808.[2] In SeptemberMoselle recaptured theBallahoo-classschoonerPike.[16] At the end of 1808 Gordon was invalided home.[11] His successor as captain ofMoselle was Commander George Gustavus Lennock, who returned home in February.[17]
Commander Henry Boyes (or Boys) assumed command during 1809.[2] He was in command on 20 March whenMoselle carried Brigadier-General Joseph French and his staff from Jamaica toSt Domingo and brought GeneralCarmichael back to Jamaica.[18][e] One payment of prize money occurred in October 1832.[f]
Next,Moselle captured the French navy schoonerBeau Narcisse on 18 May 1809.Beau Narcisse had a crew of 55 men under the command ofenseigne de vaisseau Luis Ores. She had left St Domingo on 7 May on a cruise.[21]
WhenLark foundered in a gale off Cape Causada (Point Palenqua), San Domingo, on 3 August,Moselle rescued three survivors.[22]
On 18 June 1810,Moselle fired on the sloopUSS Vixen off Barbados. Boys apologized to the Americans, reporting that he had been unable to make out her colours and that he thought she might be a French privateer that he was seeking. The Americans suffered one casualty, a man wounded in the mouth by a splinter.[23]
Commander Charles Crackenthorp Askew replaced Boys on 26 November 1811, at Jamaica.[24]
On 3 March 1812 LieutenantJames Stirling received temporary command ofMoselle. Three months later her received promotion to the rank of Commander and moved toBrazen. ThereafterMoselle was under the command of Commander George Mowbray (or Moubray) on the North America station.[2] He was appointed to command her 26 January 1812 and remained in command until 31 March 1813.[25]
During theWar of 1812Moselle captured several American merchant vessels. First she captured theAnna, bound to Kingston with a cargo of cotton and cattle (24 August 1812).[26] The second prize was theSan Nicholas (19 September).[27] Third came theExperiment, on 28 September.[g] The shipVenus (14 October 1812), which was sailing from Philadelphia to Santiago de Cuba was next. Then she captured the schoonerMagnolia (4 November), which was sailing from Rio de Janeiro to Havana. Next she captured the brigOsprey (30 December), which was sailing from Rio Grande to Havana.Moselle recaptured the brigLord Wellington.[29][h]Moselle was among the 19 vessels that shared in the proceeds for the capture of the American shipHerman on 21 June.[i] Lastly,Moselle captured the American schoonerClimax on 17 November 1813.[j]
During this period, in October 1812, Commander Hutton Dawson replaced Mowbray, but Dawson died in February 1813. Dawson's replacement was Commander John Kinsman. Commander John Moberley replaced Kinsman in July.[2]
Moselle returned to Britain in July. When she did so, she had as a passengerGeorge Augustus Westphal, whose vessel,Anaconda, had just been condemned at Jamaica.[35]
Moselle then returned to the American theatre. In 1814, acting Lieutenant Joseph Hyett was severely wounded in her boats in an action against a pirate schooner atVera Cruz. Still, he ledMoselle's boats in the capture of a 600-ton (bm) U.S. merchantman near the fort in Charleston Bay.[36]
Moselle then served in the Chesapeake Bay. She arrived near New Orleans on 11 January 1815, accompanying fifteen transports, ferrying the40th Foot, a siege train of 26 artillery pieces, and stores.[37] At New Orleans Hyett suffered from frostbite that led to the amputation of his right leg.[36]
On 9 March 1815 the US privateerKemp, Captain Joseph Almeda, captured the British merchantmanOttawa, James Simpson, master, which was off Cuba while sailing from Liverpool to Jamaica with porter, soap, potatoes, hams, cheese, etc. On 3 AprilHMS Anaconda andMoselle, recapturedOttawa. The London merchant James Strachan Glennie protested the recapture, acting on behalf ofKemp and Joseph Almeda, arguing that the recapture had occurred during the period theTreaty of Ghent had established for restitution of captures. TheVice admiralty court of Jamaica found for Glennie.[38]
On 22 November 1815, the navy offeredMoselle for sale at Deptford.[39] The navy soldMoselle on 14 December 1815 for £850.[2]