HMS Otter (1805)
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HMS ''Otter'' was a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
16-gun , launched in 1805 at
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
. She participated in two notable actions in the Indian Ocean and was sold in 1828.


Armament

When built, ''Otter'' mounted sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder long guns. Under the rating system of the time, she was officially rated at "16 guns". From 1815 she was re-rated to "18 guns", but continued to carry the same armament.


Service

''Otter'' entered service in 1805 under Commander John Davies and was attached to the
Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
. On 31 January 1807 ''Otter'' recaptured ''Enterprize''. Twenty days later, ''Otter'' was in company with and and so shared in the salvage money for the recapture of ''Farely''. ''Otter'' sailed for the Cape of Good Hope on 18 August 1807. From there she sailed to
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to support the British attack on the Spanish colony. When he arrived Davies discovered that the British army had been defeated and surrendered. Davies then sailed to the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
, where Commander Nesbit Willoughby took command of ''Otter''. On 24 February 1808 ''Otter'' sent into the Cape of Good Hope ''Harregaard'', a Danish vessel coming from Bengal. On 15 July 1808 , ''Otter'', and ''Charwell'' shared in the capture of the French brig ''Lucie'', and her cargo of slaves. Some months later, on 7 November, and ''Otter'' captured some slaves, for which they received bounty-money from the
Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. ''Otter'' was then attached to the squadron under Commodore
Josias Rowley Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, (1765 – 10 January 1842) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Birth and family Rowley was born in 1765 the second son of Clotworthy Rowle ...
that was ordered to blockade the French colonies of
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and
Île de France Ile or ILE may refer to: Ile * Ile, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino aci ...
in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
. ''Otter'' raided anchorages on the islands. For instance, on 14 August 1809 her boats were in action at Riviere Noire, ÃŽle de France. Between 20 and 24 September she took part in the
Raid on Saint Paul The raid on Saint-Paul was an amphibious operation conducted by British forces against the port of Saint-Paul in the French colony of Isle Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. It was launched on 20 September 1809 as both a precursor to a ...
. Willoughby led the naval landing party that captured the harbour, for which he was promoted. ''Otter'' suffered one man killed and one man wounded. After Willoughby's promotion, command initially passed to Lieutenant Edward Benge (acting). Command then passed to Commander James Tompkinson who remained in command throughout the campaign. On 10 January 1810, ''Otter'' and captured ''Charles''. Then on 30 March ''Otter'' captured two vessels, ''Amazon'' and ''Gagne Petit''. On 22 August ''Otter'', and shared in the capture of ''Garronne''. On 4 September the same three vessels shared in the capture of the ''Ranger''. More importantly, ''Otter'' operated in a supporting role in the
action of 13 September 1810 The action of 13 September 1810 was an frigate engagement during the Napoleonic Wars between Royal Navy and French Imperial Navy frigates during which a British frigate was defeated by two French vessels near Isle de France (now Mauritius), but ...
and the
action of 18 September 1810 The action of 18 September 1810 was fought between frigates of the Royal Navy, British and French Imperial Navy, French navies in the Indian Ocean during the Napoleonic Wars. The engagement was one of several between rival frigate squadrons cont ...
, providing towlines to the battered British frigates ''Africaine'' and ''Ceylon''. Tompkinson was promoted into ''Ceylon'' and command passed to Lieutenant Bertie Cator. He then moved to command the transport during the
Invasion of ÃŽle de France The invasion of Isle de France was a complicated but successful British amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial military force was landed by the Royal ...
in December 1810. Lieutenant Thomas Lamb Polden Laugharne (acting), immediately replaced Cator and then sailed ''Otter'' back to Britain with despatches of the campaign. Nearly four decades later her service in the battle was among the actions recognised by the clasp "Otter 18 Sept. 1810" to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.


Fate

''Otter'' was fitted for
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at Plymouth in April 1811. She remained in ordinary at
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through 1812 to 1813 and was then fitted for quarantine service as a
lazaretto A lazaretto ( ), sometimes lazaret or lazarette ( ), is a quarantine station for maritime travelers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. In some lazarets, postal items were also disinfected, usu ...
for Pembroke between February and April 1814. The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the "Otter sloop, of 365 tons", lying at Pembroke, for sale on 28 March 1828. She was sold to J. Holmes for £610.


Notes


Citations


References

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External links

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Ships of the Old Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otter (1805) Ships built on the Humber Sloops of the Royal Navy 1805 ships