HMS ''Penguin'' 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 ...
launched in 1813. In 1815 captured ''Penguin'' in a battle that took place after the end of the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. ''Hornet'' then
scuttled
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull.
Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...
''Penguin'' as she was too damaged to merit keeping.
Service
''Penguin'' was
commissioned in November 1813 under
Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
Thomas R. Toker. The next month Commander George A. Byron took over command. In June 1814 command transferred to Commander James Dickinson.
On 23 March 1815 ''Penguin'' encountered USS ''Hornet'' off
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...
. In the ensuing
single ship action
A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; it is called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions.
Sing ...
, ''Penguin'' lost 10 men killed, including Dickinson, and had 28 wounded; she
struck her colours after 22 minutes of combat. By contrast, the Americans only suffered one man killed and nine wounded, including ''Hornet''s captain, James Biddle.
[Clowes ''et al.'' (1897–1903), Vol. 6, pp. 173–5.] The Americans
scuttled
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull.
Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...
''Penguin'' the next day as she was too damaged to keep.
[
The two vessels had been relatively evenly matched. ''Hornet'' had a slightly heavier armament as she had 20 cannon, two 12-pounder guns as bow chasers and eighteen 32-pounder carronades.][ She also had a crew of 146 officers and men, including 20 ]US Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...
, less a prize crew that she had despatched.[ ''Penguin''s crew numbered 132 and included 12 extra ]Royal Marines
The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
.[
However, what had proved decisive was the Americans' better gunnery.][ Most of ''Hornet''s casualties were due to musketry fire from ''Penguin'', i.e., from the Royal Marines, ''Penguin''s gunnery was abysmal as no cannon shots had hit ''Hornet''.][
]
Aftermath
The war had already ended at the time of the engagement, but none of the vessels had received the news. Shortly after the fight, and rendezvoused with ''Hornet'' at Tristan da Cunha. ''Tom Bowline'' embarked ''Penguin''s crew and took the prisoners to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Brazil, where they received the news of the treaty. The crew arrived at Bahia on 26 April.''Lloyd's List'', No. 4980 – accessed 8 March 2014.
/ref>
See also
* Capture of HMS ''Penguin''
Citations
References
*
*
External links
*
Order book of the H.M.S. ''Penguin'', 1808-1876 (bulk 1810-1814), MS 58
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penguin (1813)
1813 ships
Brig-sloops of the Royal Navy
Cruizer-class brig-sloops
War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom
Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean