HMS Starr (1805)
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HMS ''Starr'' was a 16-gun ''Merlin''-class
ship sloop During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...
of the
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. She was built by Tanner, of Dartmouth, to plans by Sir William Rule, and launched in July 1805. As a sloop she served on convoy duty, though she also participated in the invasion of Martinique in early 1809. She was rebuilt as a
bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (Naval long gun, long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but ...
in May 1812 and renamed ''Meteor''. As ''Meteor'' she served in the Baltic and then off the United States, participating in attacks on up the Potomac and on Baltimore and New Orleans. She was sold in October 1816.


Napoleonic Wars

She was commissioned in October 1805 under Commander John Simpson. On 3 January 1806 she recaptured the ships ''Argo'' and ''Adventure'', and shared in the recapture of the ''Good Intent''. ''Starr'' was off Villa de Conde, Portugal, when she intercepted the vessels, which had been taken from a convoy that had been escorting from
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
to Portugal, and both of which had been carrying cargoes of fish. ''Starr'' sighted ''Good Intent'' and signaled ''Mercury'', which recaptured her too. On 5 February, captured the ''Baltidore'', which was the privateer that had captured ''Good Intent''. ''Starr'' escorted a convoy to Newfoundland in August 1807 and another to the Leeward Islands in 1808. While briefly under Commander
Francis Augustus Collier Rear Admiral Sir Francis Augustus Collier, CB, KCH (7 August 1785 – 28 October 1849) was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the early nineteenth century. Born into a naval family, Collier served in the French Revolutionary Wars ...
, she participated in the capture of
Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
in February 1809 where she landed in command of a detachment of seamen and marines. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Martinique" to all surviving claimants from the campaign. Between November 1811 and May 1812, ''Starr'' was rebuilt as a
bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (Naval long gun, long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but ...
. She was then recommissioned, possibly in February 1812, as ''Meteor'' under Commander Peter Fisher. Her predecessor under the name , had been a bomb vessel too and had been sold in November. Fisher sailed ''Meteor'' to the Baltic. There, she participated in operations against
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, at the siege of Danzic, and at the blockade of the
Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...
. At Danzig, ''Meteor'' joined Swedish and Russian gunboats in an attack on the French garrison.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol 30 (Jul-Dec 1813), p.431.
/ref> ''Meteor'' pressed the attack, coming in close under the shore batteries and the bombardment damaged many houses, both directly and through subsequent fires. The allies succeeded in capturing a point, which would enable them to close the city to resupply by sea even without maintaining a naval blockade. One Russian gunboat was sunk and in all, the allies lost about 200 men. The Duke of Wurtemburg mentioned Fisher's intrepidity to
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.


War of 1812

On 12 August 1812, and ''Meteor'' captured the American vessels ''Cuba'', ''Caliban'', ''Cygnet'', ''Edward'', ''Galen'', and ''Halcyon''. ''Meteor'' was part of a squadron that on 2 June 1814 sailed from the
Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux †...
, carrying 2500 troops under the command of Major General
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to invade the United States. On 19 February 1814 Samuel Roberts took command of ''Meteor''. He then sailed her from the Garonne to North America as an escort to a detachment of troops under Major-General Ross. ''Meteor'' participated in the expedition up the Potomac (August–September 1814). On 17 August , bombs , , and ''Meteor'', the
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, and the
dispatch boat Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message w ...
''Anna-Maria'' were detached under Captain Gordon of to sail up the
Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...
and bombard Fort Washington, about ten or twelve miles below
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. The force withdrew between 1 and 5 September, having accomplished their mission and having captured numerous small American vessels. ''Meteor'' suffered two seamen severely wounded during the withdrawal operation. On 12 September ''Erebus'', ''Meteor'', ''Aetna'', , , and ''Devastation'' sailed up the
Patapsco River The Patapsco River ( ) mainstem is a river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore. With its South Branch, the Patapsco forms the northern border of Howar ...
in preparation for an attack on Baltimore. ''Meteor'' participated in the bombardment of
Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, it had a popul ...
, on the
Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...
in August 1814 and the bombardment on the 13th of
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at Baltimore. Thus, "the bombs bursting in air" from ''
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'' by
Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became t ...
were, at least in part, ''Meteor''s. The squadron was ordered to withdraw on the 14th. In winter 1814 ''Meteor'' also took part in the naval expedition in the prelude that led to the Battle of New Orleans. On 8 December 1814, two US gunboats fired on , and the
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 ...
frigate while they were passing the chain of small islands that runs parallel to the shore between Mobile and
Lake Borgne Lake Borgne ( ; , ; ) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Geography In southern Louisiana, three large ...
. Between 12 and 15 December 1814, Captain Lockyer of ''Sophie'' led a flotilla of some 42 boats, barges, launches - armed with a carronade apiece - and three unarmed gigs to attack the US gunboats. Lockyer drew his flotilla from the fleet that was massing against New Orleans, including the 74-gun
Third Rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...
, ''Armide'', ''Seahorse'', , and ''Meteor''. Lockyer deployed the boats in three divisions, of which he led one. Captain Montresor of the gun-brig ''Manly'' commanded the second, and Captain Roberts of ''Meteor'' commanded the third. After rowing for 36 hours, the British met the Americans at St. Joseph's Island. On 13 December 1814, the British attacked the one-gun schooner . On the morning of the 14th, the British engaged the Americans in a short, violent battle. The British captured the entire American force, including the tender , captured by Roberts, and five gunboats. The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded; ''Meteor'' had three men wounded, including one severely. then evacuated the wounded. In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of the American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton. In 1847 the
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issued a clasp (or bar) marked "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to survivors of the boat service who claimed the clasp to the Naval General Service Medal. Thereafter two bomb vessels were dispatched up the Mississippi to attack
Fort St. Philip Fort St. Philip is a historic masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about upriver from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, just opposite Fort Jackson on the other side of the river. It formerly served a ...
, along with , , and , to create a diversion. Although ''Aetna'' and ''Meteor'' were mentioned, the latter vessel was , as ''Meteor''s captain was elsewhere, and played an active role in the
Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...
. When Lieutenant Colonel Thornton stormed (and subsequently captured) a redoubt on the right bank of the Mississippi, Roberts commanded three gun vessels that protected the troops' right flank. Earlier, Roberts had kept the boats together that ferried the troops across the river for the attack. Next, ''Meteor'' and were at the siege of
Fort Bowyer Fort Bowyer was a short-lived earthen and stockade fortification that the United States Army erected in 1813 on Mobile Point, near the mouth of Mobile Bay in what is now Baldwin County, Alabama, but then was part of the Mississippi Territory. Th ...
in February 1815, the final engagement on the Gulf Coast.


Fate

On 13 June Captain Samuel Roberts received a promotion to
post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...
. That month command passed to Commander Daniel Roberts. On 16 October 1816 ''Meteor'' was sold at Deptford to Mr Mellish for £1,450.


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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Starr (1805) Sloops of the Royal Navy Bomb vessels of the Royal Navy Ships built in Dartmouth 1805 ships War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom