HMS Grasshopper (1806)

HMS ''Grasshopper'' was a ''Cruizer''-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806, captured several vessels, and took part in two notable actions before the Dutch captured her in 1811. She then served The Netherlands navy until she was broken up in 1822.

British naval service

Commander Thomas Searle commissioned ''Grasshopper'' in November 1806. He then sailed her for the Mediterranean on 1 February 1807.

Early in the morning of 7 November, boats from HMS ''Renommee'' and ''Grasshopper'' cut out a Spanish brig and a French tartan, each armed with six guns, from under the Torre de Estacio. The prize crews were not able to prevent winds and tides from causing the two vessels to ground. The boats and the two vessels were under a constant fire from the tower that wounded several prisoners. After about three hours the British abandoned their prizes as they could not free them and were unwilling to set fire to them as the captured vessels had prisoners and women and children aboard, many of whom were wounded. The British had two men badly wounded in the action; although the enemy suffered many wounded, they apparently had no deaths.

That same day ''Grasshopper'' captured the American schooner ''Henrietta'', Joseph Dawson, master.

Then in December ''Grasshopper'' and HMS ''Renommee'' were detached to sail off Cartagena to monitor the Spanish squadron there. ''Grasshopper'' was on lookout on 11 December and sailed ahead, leaving ''Renommee'' behind. While off Cape Palos, Searle observed several enemy vessels at anchor. His Catholic Majesty's brig ''San Jose y Ánimas'', of twelve
24-pounders guns, with a crew of 99 men under the command of ''Teniente de navio'' Don Antonio de Torrea, got under weigh, and sailed towards ''Grasshopper''. Two more naval vessels, ''Medusa Mestrio'' (ten 24-pounders and 77 men), and ''Aigle Mestrio'' (eight 24-pounders and 50 men) followed ''San Jose y Ánimas''. ''Grasshopper'' brought ''San Jose y Ánimas'' to action. Within 15 minutes ''San Jose y Ánimas'' had struck and run onshore, at which point many men of her crew abandoned her and swam for shore. The two other vessels then sailed away. The British were able to recover ''San Jose y Ánimas'', which Searle described as being of 145 tons burthen (bm), six years old, copper-fastened, well-found, pierced for 16 guns, a "remarkably fast sailer", and suitable for service in the Royal Navy. In the engagement ''Grasshopper'' had two men wounded. Searle had no estimate of enemy casualties, but believed that many men had drowned when they jumped overboard to avoid capture. The head and prize money was remitted from Gibraltar and ''Renommee''s share was paid out to her officers and crew in December 1813.

On Christmas Day, ''Grasshopper'' captured ''Industry''.

''Grasshopper'' captured ''Neutrality'' on 4 February 1808. She shared the proceeds of the capture with . The next day she captured ''Eliza''.

The action that took place on 4 April off the coast off Rota near Cadiz, Spain, began when the Royal Naval frigates and , and ''Grasshopper'', intercepted a large Spanish convoy protected by twenty gunboats and a train of shore batteries. The British destroyed two of the escorts and drove many of the merchants ashore. They also silenced the shore batteries. Marines and sailors of the British ships subsequently captured and sailed seven vessels back out to sea. ''Grasshopper'' was badly damaged and had one man mortally wounded and three others slightly wounded. The prizes were loaded with timber for the arsenal at Cadiz. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Off Rota 4 April 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 23 April ''Grasshopper'' and the gun-brig encountered two Spanish vessels from South America, sailing under the protection of four gunboats. After a short chase, the convoy anchored under the guns of a shore battery near Faro, Portugal. Searle anchored ''Grasshopper'' within grapeshot (i.e., short) range of the Spanish vessels and commenced firing. After two and a half hours, the gun crews of the shore battery had abandoned their guns, and the British had driven two gunboats ashore and destroyed them. The British also captured two gunboats and the two merchant vessels. ''Grasshopper'' had one man killed and three severely wounded. Searle himself was lightly wounded. ''Rapid'' had three men severely wounded. Spanish casualties were heavy, numbering some 40 dead and wounded on the two captured gunboats alone. Searle put 14 of the wounded on shore at Faro as he did not have the resources to deal with them as well as his own casualties. Searle estimated the value of the cargo on each of the two merchant vessels at £30,000. This action also resulted in the Admiralty awarding clasps to the Naval General Service Medal marked "Grasshopper 24 April 1808" and "Rapid 24 April 1808".

Lieutenant Henry Fanshawe received promotion to Commander and the appointment to command of ''Grasshopper'' on 2 May 1808; in June 1808 he took command. She remained in the Mediterranean in 1808 and 1809.

Between 4 and 11 August 1809, the merchant vessel ''Thetis'', Clark, master, arrived at Gibraltar. As she was sailing from Cagliari, a French privateer had captured ''Thetis'', but ''Grasshopper'' had recaptured her.

''Grasshopper'' escorted a convoy to Quebec, sailing on 21 June 1810. She then escorted another convoy, of 25 vessels, back from Quebec, arriving in British waters around mid-October.

''Grasshopper'' served in the North Sea in 1811.

Capture

''Grasshopper'', together with the 74-gun , the ship-sloop , and the hired armed ship left Gothenburg on 18 December 1811 as escorts to a convoy of 15 transports and a fleet of merchantmen, some 120 sail or more. Four or five days later ''Egeria'' and ''Prince William'' separated, together with the vessels going to the Humber and Scotland, including most of the merchant vessels. The transports and a handful of the merchantmen proceeded with ''Hero'' and ''Grasshopper''.''Gentleman's Magazine'' (1812), p. 174.

On 24 December ''Hero'' wrecked off the Texel in a storm with the loss of all but 12 men of her 600 man crew. ''Grasshopper'' observed ''Hero'' ground, but too late to avoid also grounding. ''Grasshopper'' was able to get over the sandbank into deeper water, where she anchored, though striking ground repeatedly. She was unable to go to the assistance of ''Hero'' and within 15 minutes the distress signals from ''Hero'' ceased. Next morning ''Grasshopper'' observed ''Hero'' completely wrecked. Neither she nor the Dutch schuyts could get to ''Hero''.

''Grasshopper'', though herself safe about a mile away, found herself trapped. She had no loss of life among her crew, though the pilot was killed. On 25 December Fanshawe saw no option but to surrender. He sailed ''Grasshopper'' to the Helder and there struck to the fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral De Winter.

Apparently, she surrendered to the and gunboat , and her crew were taken prisoner. Among her crew was the future penal reformer Alexander Maconochie

Ten of the transports of ''Hero''s convoy were also lost. One of them was , whose crew, however, was saved, and another was ''Rosina'', which lost her master and 17 men.''LL'' 21 January 1812, No. 4632.
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Dutch naval service

In June 1810 France had disbanded the Kingdom of Holland, annexing the Netherlands to France, a situation that lasted until 1813. ''Grasshopper'' became part of the Nieuwediep Squadron of the Dutch Navy, which was not amalgamated into the French Navy. The British blockade prevented the Dutch from putting ''Grasshopper'' to extensive use immediately and she essentially sat until the end of the Napoleonic wars, though as a result of one pursuit she received the reputation of being the best sailer in the squadron.

On 11 December 1812, the Minister of Marine mandated that the Dutch transfer ''Grasshopper'' to the French Navy. The Dutch had intended to transfer a small, 6-gun brig named ''Irene''. Instead, they sold ''Irene'' and transferred ''Grasshopper''. On 2 January 1813 ''Grasshopper'' was renamed ''Irene'' when the French Navy took possession of her. Dutch partisans captured ''Irene'' in December 1813, during the Dutch uprising.

After the Netherlands regained its independence in 1814, ''Irene'' returned to active duty. She convoyed ships to the Dutch colonies in the West Indies (1815–16), and Spain and the Mediterranean (1816–18). She then served in the East Indies between 1819 and 1821.

In October 1819 ''Irene'' took part in the first expedition to Palembang, which the Dutch mounted against insurgents in Sumatra. She sailed up the Palembang River in company with the frigate ''Wilhelmina'' (44 guns), sloops ''Eendracht'' (20 guns) and ''Ajax'' (20 guns), and several smaller ships. However, the squadron had to withdraw after suffering heavy losses and then restricted its efforts to coastal blockade. A second expedition to Palembang in 1821 was more successful, though it did not involve ''Irene''.

Fate

In 1821, ''Irene'' returned to the Netherlands. The next year she was broken up in Vlissingen (Flushing).

Notes

Citations

References

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See also

*Loss of HMS ''Hero'' and ''Grasshopper'': History of Portsmout

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grasshopper (1806)
1806 ships
Cruizer-class brig-sloops
Captured ships