HMS Wolf (or Wolfe) was a Merlin-class sloop launched at Dartmouth in 1804. She captured or destroyed four small Spanish or French privateers before she was wrecked on 4 September 1806 in the Bahamas.
Commander John Astley Bennet commissioned Wolf in January 1805.[1]
Commander George Charles Mackenzie assumed command of Wolf in April 1805,[2] and sailed to the West Indies, arriving at Barbados from Cork on 23 July as escort to a fleet of merchantmen. From Barbados she sailed on to Jamaica.
On the evening of 9 October 1805, Mackenzie sailed Wolf to try to intercept two vessels sighted off Falmouth on the north coast of Jamaica. The first vessel Wolf came up with was an American that a Spanish privateer had just captured. Mackenzie dropped a boat to take possession of the American and then went in pursuit of the Spanish privateer which was sailing towards the shore. When the wind dropped, Wolf had to send a boarding party in two boats that boarded the privateer, which grounded on a reef. The privateer was Precieusa, a new cutter armed with three small guns, under the command of Galana Garsa. She was six days out of Santiago de Cuba. Five of her crew of 23 escaped in a canoe before the boarding party arrived. The British were nable to get Precieusa off the reef and she went to pieces soon after.[3]
The American vessel was probably Experiment, Moncrief, master, which had been sailing from Falmouth to Montego Bay and New York when she had been taken and retaken.[4]
On 2 January 1806 HMS Malabar and Wolf captured the French privateer schooners Régulateur and Napoléon in Port Azaraderos, Cuba. The port was protected by a double reef of rocks so Captain Hall of Malabar sent the master of Malabar in a boat to find a passage. Once a passage was found, rather than go in to capture the vessels, Wolf came in, but stopped about a quarter of a mile away from them. She then engaged the privateers for almost two hours until their crews abandoned their vessels, landed, and escaped into the woods. Then Wolf and Malabar sent in their boats to take possession.[5]Wolf had two men killed in the action and four men wounded, one of them a prisoner.
One of the privateers, Régulateur was armed with a brass 18-pounder, and four 6-pounder guns, and had 80 men.[a] The other, Napoléon, was armed with one long 9-pounder, two 12-pounder carronades, and two 4-pounder guns, and had a crew of 66 men.[b] The British towed their prizes past the reefs, but in the process Régulateur sank. A marine from Malabar drowned when sank.[2]Wolf and Napoléon arrived at Jamaica on 6 January.
Wolf later captured a French felucca, of unknown name. The felucca carried one gun; her crew escaped.[8]
Fateedit
Wolf was searching for the reported wreck of a French ship of the line wrecked north of Hispaniola. On 4 September 1804 Wolf was scouting around the western side of Heneagea when she grounded about 1.5 miles off shore on the southwest point of Heneagea. Despite effort to get her off, she fell on her side overnight. Fortunately, the whole of her officers and crew were saved. Mackenzie and his crew spent several days stripping the wreck before merchant ships took them off. Some crew members took this opportunity to desert.[9] One of the merchant ships that rescued the crew was the Danish vessel Hope.[10]Wolf's loss was blamed on a northward current and inaccurate charts.[11]
Notesedit
^Régulateur was a privateer schooner from Saint-Domingue or Cuba commissioned in 1803, and recommissioned in Guadeloupe in 1805. She had sustained one man killed and two wounded in the engagement. When she foundered, three more of her crew died.[6]
^Napoléon was a privateer schooner commissioned in Saint-Domingue in December 1804. She was formerly the British prize British Domonica (?). She had sustained five men wounded in the action.[7]
Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 à 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN9782903179304. OCLC 492784876.
Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN0-7201-1816-6.
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN0-948864-30-3.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
External linksedit
Media related to HMS Wolf (ship, 1804) at Wikimedia Commons
January 01, 1970
wolf, 1804, other, ships, with, same, name, wolf, wolf, wolfe, merlin, class, sloop, launched, dartmouth, 1804, captured, destroyed, four, small, spanish, french, privateers, before, wrecked, september, 1806, bahamas, wolfhistory, united, kingdom, namehms, wol. For other ships with the same name see HMS Wolf HMS Wolf or Wolfe was a Merlin class sloop launched at Dartmouth in 1804 She captured or destroyed four small Spanish or French privateers before she was wrecked on 4 September 1806 in the Bahamas WolfHistory United Kingdom NameHMS Wolf Ordered27 November 1802 BuilderBenjamin Tanner Dartmouth Laid downApril 1803 Launched4 August 1804 FateWrecked 4 September 1806 General characteristics 1 Class and typeMerlin class sloop Tons burthen36667 94 bm Length105 ft 10 1 4 in 32 264 m overall 87 ft 5 in 26 6 m keel Beam28 ft 1 in 8 56 m Depth of hold13 ft 9 in 4 19 m PropulsionSails Complement121 ArmamentUpper deck 16 32 poundercarronades QD 6 12 pounder carronades Fc 2 12 pounder carronades Contents 1 Career 2 Fate 3 Notes 4 Citations 5 References 6 External linksCareer editCommander John Astley Bennet commissioned Wolf in January 1805 1 Commander George Charles Mackenzie assumed command of Wolf in April 1805 2 and sailed to the West Indies arriving at Barbados from Cork on 23 July as escort to a fleet of merchantmen From Barbados she sailed on to Jamaica On the evening of 9 October 1805 Mackenzie sailed Wolf to try to intercept two vessels sighted off Falmouth on the north coast of Jamaica The first vessel Wolf came up with was an American that a Spanish privateer had just captured Mackenzie dropped a boat to take possession of the American and then went in pursuit of the Spanish privateer which was sailing towards the shore When the wind dropped Wolf had to send a boarding party in two boats that boarded the privateer which grounded on a reef The privateer was Precieusa a new cutter armed with three small guns under the command of Galana Garsa She was six days out of Santiago de Cuba Five of her crew of 23 escaped in a canoe before the boarding party arrived The British were nable to get Precieusa off the reef and she went to pieces soon after 3 The American vessel was probably Experiment Moncrief master which had been sailing from Falmouth to Montego Bay and New York when she had been taken and retaken 4 On 2 January 1806 HMS Malabar and Wolf captured the French privateer schooners Regulateur and Napoleon in Port Azaraderos Cuba The port was protected by a double reef of rocks so Captain Hall of Malabar sent the master of Malabar in a boat to find a passage Once a passage was found rather than go in to capture the vessels Wolf came in but stopped about a quarter of a mile away from them She then engaged the privateers for almost two hours until their crews abandoned their vessels landed and escaped into the woods Then Wolf and Malabar sent in their boats to take possession 5 Wolf had two men killed in the action and four men wounded one of them a prisoner One of the privateers Regulateur was armed with a brass 18 pounder and four 6 pounder guns and had 80 men a The other Napoleon was armed with one long 9 pounder two 12 pounder carronades and two 4 pounder guns and had a crew of 66 men b The British towed their prizes past the reefs but in the process Regulateur sank A marine from Malabar drowned when sank 2 Wolf and Napoleon arrived at Jamaica on 6 January Wolf later captured a French felucca of unknown name The felucca carried one gun her crew escaped 8 Fate editWolf was searching for the reported wreck of a French ship of the line wrecked north of Hispaniola On 4 September 1804 Wolf was scouting around the western side of Heneagea when she grounded about 1 5 miles off shore on the southwest point of Heneagea Despite effort to get her off she fell on her side overnight Fortunately the whole of her officers and crew were saved Mackenzie and his crew spent several days stripping the wreck before merchant ships took them off Some crew members took this opportunity to desert 9 One of the merchant ships that rescued the crew was the Danish vessel Hope 10 Wolf s loss was blamed on a northward current and inaccurate charts 11 Notes edit Regulateur was a privateer schooner from Saint Domingue or Cuba commissioned in 1803 and recommissioned in Guadeloupe in 1805 She had sustained one man killed and two wounded in the engagement When she foundered three more of her crew died 6 Napoleon was a privateer schooner commissioned in Saint Domingue in December 1804 She was formerly the British prize British Domonica She had sustained five men wounded in the action 7 Citations edit a b Winfield 2008 pp 258 259 a b Marshall 1827 pp 409 410 No 158804 The London Gazette 11 January 1806 p 43 The Marine List Lloyd s List No 4288 14 January 1806 hdl 2027 mdp 39015005721496 Retrieved 4 July 2021 No 15904 The London Gazette 25 March 1806 pp 387 388 Demerliac 2003 p 317 n 2702 Demerliac 2003 p 317 n 2708 No 16004 The London Gazette 24 February 1807 p 246 Hepper 1994 p 114 Postscript The Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser for Lancashire Westmorland amp c No 285 29 November 1806 Gosset 1986 p 53 References editDemerliac Alain 2003 La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire Nomenclature des Navires Francais de 1800 a 1815 in French Editions Ancre ISBN 9782903179304 OCLC 492784876 Gosset William Patrick 1986 The lost ships of the Royal Navy 1793 1900 Mansell ISBN 0 7201 1816 6 Hepper David J 1994 British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail 1650 1859 Rotherfield Jean Boudriot ISBN 0 948864 30 3 Marshall John 1827 Mackenzie George Charles Royal Naval Biography Vol sup part 1 London Longman and company p 409 410 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 External links edit nbsp Media related to HMS Wolf ship 1804 at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Wolf 1804 amp oldid 1209670328, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
