HMS ''Pelican'' was a 24-gun

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...

post ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a sixth-rate ship (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carrying ...

of the

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 ...

built in 1777 and wrecked in 1781.

Construction and commissioning

''Pelican'' cost £5,623.11.0d to build, plus £3,545.0.7d for fitting . She was commissioned under her first commanding officer, Captain Henry Lloyd, in May 1777.

Service

''Pelican'' was first stationed under Lloyd in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

; by 1778 she was stationed off

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; ; ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin , mean ...

and a year later she had transferred to the coast of Portugal. She returned to England for a

refit Refitting or refit of boats and marine vessels includes repairing, fixing, restoring, renewing, mending, and renovating an old vessel. Refitting has become one of the most important activities inside a shipyard. It offers a variety of services for ...

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

between August and September 1779 and was recommissioned in November with Captain William Lockhart in command. Lockhart only stayed with ''Pelican'' briefly and by January 1780 Captain Thomas Haynes had assumed command of the post ship. Under him she sailed for the Jamaica Station on 13 April, where she captured the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

''La Marquise de Saint-Pern'' on 9 December. In June 1781 Captain

Cuthbert Collingwood Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy. Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and later lived in Morpeth, Northumberland. He entered the Royal Navy at ...

took command from Haynes. ''Pelican'' captured the French 16-gun ship ''Le Cerf'' on 22 July.

Fate

On 2 August ''Pelican'', while under the command of

was caught up in a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

and wrecked on the Morant Keys. The crew were shipwrecked but managed to get ashore in rafts where they remained for ten days until rescued. The subsequent court-martial, mandatory for any Captain who loses his ship declared Collingwood and his crew not at fault for the loss of the ship, given the tremendous extent of the hurricane that had caused much damage across the region.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelican (1777), HMS 1777 ships Porcupine-class post ships Ships built in Deptford Maritime incidents in 1781