HMS Pilchard (1805)
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HMS ''Pilchard'' 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 ...
''Ballahoo''-class schooner of four 12-pounder
carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...
s and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
. She was commissioned under Lieutenant Samuel Crew in May 1804, launched in 1805, and completed at Plymouth in 1806.Winfield (2008), p.359. Although ''Pilchard'' was often near naval engagements, she seems not to have had to fire her cannons before she was laid up in 1812. Entries in ''Lloyd's Register'' indicate that she continued in mercantile trade from at least 1817 until 1833, under a variety of owners and masters, and as far afield as Africa and Valparaiso.


Service

''Pilchard'' arrived in Plymouth in November 1805. She had left Newfoundland on 26 September with a fleet for Portugal. On 18 November she had left 18 merchantmen off Oporto, two of which sailed on to Viana. On 16 July 1806 she was in Sir Samuel Hood's squadron off Rochefort when the boats from that squadron captured the 16-gun brig ''Caesar''. She was apparently still part of the squadron at the action of 25 September 1806 though she took no part in the engagement. The action resulted in the capture of four French frigates, ''Armide'', ''Gloire'', ''Infatigable'' and ''Minerve''. On 26 October ''Pilchard'' was in sight of the gun brig ''Rapid'' as she captured the brig ''Conductor''. In 1807 Lieutenant Clement Ives took command, only to be replaced the next year by the returning Lieutenant Crew. ''Pilchard'' was in the North Sea in 1809. Lieutenant William R. Dore took command that year. On 23 March Dore and ''Pilchard'' captured the
chasse maree A chasse, châsse or box reliquary is a shape commonly used in medieval metalwork for reliquaries and other containers. To the modern eye the form resembles a house, though a tomb or church was more the intention,Distelberger, 21 with an oblo ...
''Fannie''. In March or April, ''Pilchard'' captured the ''Fame'', which had sailed from Rochefort carrying wine, and sent her into Plymouth. ''Pilchard'' and her sister schooner ''Porgey'' and half-sister schooner ''Cuckoo'' were at the unsuccessful
Walcheren Expedition The Walcheren Campaign () was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Kingdom of Holland in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Ch ...
, which took place between 30 July and 9 August 1809. Lieutenant William Hewitt (or Hewett) replaced Dore in 1810. From 1812 ''Pilchard'' was in ordinary at Sheerness. She was sold there on 23 February 1813. The sale may have fallen through though as the Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy advertised her for sale at Sheerness on 3 February 1814. She was eventually sold though.


Mercantile service

''Pilchard'' is listed in ''
Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...
'' in 1815. ''Pilchard'', Williams, master, was condemned at Sierra Leone on 6 January 1817 for having 200 barrels of gunpowder on board.''Lloyd's List'

- accessed 25 November 2013.
However, entries in ''Lloyd's Register'' for the Bermuda-built schooner ''Pilchard'', 79 tons (bm), indicate that she continued to trade until 1833, under a variety of owners and masters, and as far afield as Africa and Valparaiso.


Citations


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilchard (1805) 1805 ships Ballahoo-class schooners Age of Sail merchant ships of England Ships built in Bermuda Merchant ships of the United Kingdom