HMS Buffalo (1797)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Buffalo.

HMS Buffalo was a storeship under construction as the merchant vessel Fremantle when the Royal Navy purchased her on the stocks.^[2] She was launched in 1797, and sold in 1817.

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Buffalo
Builder	John Dudman, Deptford, London
Launched	3 November 1797
Acquired	16 August 1797
In service	1797
Out of service	1814
Fate	Sold 1817
General characteristics ^[1]
Tons burthen	462 66⁄94 (bm)
Length	109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) (overall) 90 ft 6+1⁄4 in (27.591 m) (keel)
Beam	31 ft (9.4 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	33
Armament	10 × 6-pounder guns

Career

In December 1797 William Raven was appointed commander for a voyage from England to New South Wales.^[3] Between 1792 and 1797 he had visited New South Wales and sailed between Australia and the Cape, Bengal, and Java as captain of the merchant ship Britannia.

Buffalo arrived at Port Jackson on 25 April 1799, having brought cattle from the Cape of Good Hope. She left for the Cape on 13 September 1799. She returned on 15 April 1800 with more cattle from the Cape.^[4]

On 21 October 1800, she sailed for England under the command of William Kent. (Earlier, in 1795) he had brought out Supply to the colony and commanded her there for some years.)

Buffalo left Port Jackson carrying Captain John Hunter, the former governor of New South Wales, Eliza Kent who had been his First Lady and William and Eliza's three children.^[5] She also carried two black swans and three emus, all five of which survived to reach England. From St Helena she escorted a small convoy of vessels from the East Indies, one of which was carrying Colonel Robert Brooke, the former governor of St Helena.^[6]

Under Kent Buffalo sailed from England to return to Australia, arriving with stores on 16 October 1802. She left on 21 April 1803, bound for Bengal. Kent and Buffalo returned from Bengal with cattle, arriving on 12 June 1804,^[4] or 13 June.^[7]

In 1803/4 they were in New Caledonia^[5] and in 1804 Buffalo was involved in establishing the settlement at George Town, Tasmania by William Paterson. Eliza Kent's journeys on board the Buffalo was later reported in a British magazine.^[5]

In 1805 she was commanded by John Oxley. On 10 February 1807 Buffalo left Port Jackson for England.^[4]

On 26 October 1807, Tsar Alexander I of Russia declared war on Great Britain. The official news did not arrive there until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports. Buffalo was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the proceeds of the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate Speshnoy (Speshnyy), and the Russian storeship Wilhelmina (or Vilghemina) then in Portsmouth harbour.^[8] The Russian vessels were carrying the payroll for Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin’s squadron in the Mediterranean.^[9][a]

Fate

Buffalo was hulked in 1814. The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" first offered the "Buffalo sloop, of 463 tons", lying at Cowes, for sale on 3 April 1817.^[11] She sold on 30 April 1817 for £810 to Mr. Spartly.^[1]

See also

• John Lewin, who intended to sail to Sydney on Buffalo in 1798 but missed the departure although his wife was aboard.
• Garnham Blaxcell, who was serving as acting purser on 16 October 1802 when Buffalo arrived in Sydney.
• Charles Robbins, who served on Buffalo as a midshipman in 1802

Notes

1. Consequently, an able seaman on any one of the 70 British vessels received 14s 7½d in prize money.^[10]

Citations

1. Winfield (2008), p. 397.
2. "NMM, vessel ID 381487" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
3. Parsons, Vivienne (1967). "Raven, William (1756–1814)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
4. Australian Town and Country Journal, 31 January 1891, p.16.
5. "Kent, Eliza (1765/6–1810), traveller and writer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70549. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 19 August 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 5, p.457.
7. Bladen (1979), p. 419.
8. "No. 16276". The London Gazette. 15 July 1809. p. 1129.
9. Tredrea & Sozaev (2010), p. 198 & p.391.
10. "No. 16195". The London Gazette. 25 October 1808. p. 1460.
11. "No. 17232". The London Gazette. 18 March 1817. p. 700.

References

• Bladen, F. M., ed. (1979). Historical records of New South Wales. Vol. 5, King, 1803, 1804, 1805. Lansdown Slattery & Co. ISBN 9780868330006.
• Kent, Eliza (September 1807). "An Account of Part of the South-West side of New Caledonia". The Athenaeum. 2 (IX): 236–239.
• Kent, Eliza (October 1807). "An Account of Part of the South-West side of New Caledonia (concluded)". The Athenaeum. 2 (X): 335–337.
• Kent, Eliza (July 1808). "Abstract of the Journal of a Voyage from New South Wales to England, by a Lady". The Athenaeum. 4 (XIX): 5–10.
• Kent, Eliza (August 1808). "Abstract of the Journal of a Voyage from New South Wales to England, by a Lady (continued)". The Athenaeum. 4 (XX): 99–103.
• Tredrea, John; Sozaev, Eduard (2010). Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696–1860. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-058-1.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.

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