HMS Defender (1797)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | HMS Defender (ex-GB No. 21) |
| Ordered: | 7 February 1797 |
| Builder: | Hill & Mellish, Limehouse |
| Laid down: | February 1797 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1797 |
| Commissioned: | June 1797 |
| Fate: | Sold in September 1802 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Courser-class gun-brig |
| Tons burthen: | 168.3 (bm) |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 22 ft 6 1⁄2 in (6.871 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) |
| Sail plan: | Brig |
| Complement: | 50 |
| Armament: |
|
Launched on 21 May 1797, GB No. 21 was renamed HMS Defender on 7 August the same year. She was a 12-gun Courser-class gun-brig built for the British Royal Navy at Limehouse and disposed of in 1802.
Design and construction
The Courser class was designed by Sir William Rule, the Surveyor of the Navy and although at first intended as gunboats, and therefore only had numbers, on 7 August 1797 they were reclassified as gun-brigs, and were given names. The class were fitted with a Schank sliding keel[1] and armed with ten 18-pounder carronades and two long 24-pounders.[2]
Defender also shared with the sloop Dart and the gunboats Cracker, and Hasty in the proceeds of the capture of the Hell Hound.[3] This may have occurred on 7 October when Dart, Defender, Cracker, Hasty, and the schuyt Isis cut out four gunboats from the Pampus, in the Zuiderzee. Three of the gunboats were schuyts, but one was a new, purpose-built gunboat armed with two 18-pounder guns in her bow and two 18-pounder carronades in her broadside. The three schuyts also carried four guns and carronades each. The vessels had crews ranging in size from 20 to 30 men. The British suffered no casualties.[4]
Service
Between August and October 1799 she was engaged on an expedition to Holland.[5] During this period her captain was Lieutenant Samuel P. Leavey RN, and she was based in Portsmouth.[1]
Fate
Defender was, along with many of her class, disposed of in 1802 during the short-lived Peace of Amiens.[5]
References
- 1 2 "HMS Defender at the Age of Nelson website". Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ↑ Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. 2nd edition, Seaforth Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 15547. p. 40. 14 January 1803.
- ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 3, p.141.
- 1 2 "HMS Defender at the Naval Database website". Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.