HMS Halifax was the French privateer brig Marie that the Royal Navy captured in November 1797 and took into service. The Navy sold her in 1801 and she became the merchantman Halifax. She sailed between Portsmouth and Newfoundland and was last listed in 1808.
.jpg) Inboard profile of HMS Halifax, by John Marshall [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard]; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Marie |
| Builder | Caribbean |
| Commissioned | 1797 |
| Captured | 15 July 1800 |
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Mary |
| Acquired | 1797 by capture |
| Renamed | HMS Halifax |
| Fate | Sold 1801 |
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | |
| Name | Halifax |
| Acquired | 1801 by purchase |
| Fate | Last listed in 1808 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 13655⁄94, or 139 bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 21 ft 7 in (6.6 m) |
| Depth of hold | 9 ft 8 in (2.9 m) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
French privateer edit
Marie was a privateer brig from an unknown home port in the Caribbean.[2]
HMS Jason, Captain Charles Stirling, captured the French privateer brig Marie off Belle Isle on 21 November 1797. Marie was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 60 men.[3]
edit
Marie arrived in Plymouth on 8 December 1797 and was laid up. Between December 1801 and July 1801 she underwent fitting for sea. The Admiralty initially named her HMS Mary, but renamed her HMS Halifax prior to her commissioning.[1]
Lieutenant J. Scott commissioned Halifax in 1801. On 22 November it was reported at Plymouth that Halifax, Lieutenant J. Scott, had departed for Bantry Bay on 1 November, but had not arrived there by the 12th. As she had been out in the hurricanes on 1 and 2 November it was feared that she might have been lost.[4] She was deleted from the Navy list that same year.[1]
Mercantile service edit
Halifax was not lost but instead appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS) in 1802. The entry described her as a prize taken in 1797, and reported that she had undergone repairs in 1801.[5]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1802 | C.Goffe[a] J.Randel |
B.Lester | Portsmouth–Newfoundland | RS; repairs 1801 |
| 1808 | J.Randall | Lester & Co. | Portsmouth–Newfoundland | LR |
Fate edit
Halifax was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1808.
Notes edit
- ^ The identification of her master as Goffe is probably an error. In 1801 a Halifax, Goff, master and owner, of 138 tons, launched in Hull in 1769, came into Poole on 21 January 1801 a complete wreck. While sailing from Newfoundland she had encountered a storm on 1 January 1801 and had been so damaged that a French privateer, encountering Halifax would have nothing to do with her, instead advising Halifax to make her way to port as best she could.[6] Halifax underwent repairs in 1801.[7]
Citations edit
- ^ a b c Winfield (2008), p. 337.
- ^ Demerliac (1999), p. 305, n°2857.
- ^ "No. 14071". The London Gazette. 5 December 1797. p. 1160.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 6, p.432,
- ^ RS (1802), seq.No.H19.
- ^ "Multiple News Items", 23 January 1801, Morning Post (London, England) Issue: 10101.
- ^ Lloyd's Register (1801), seq.No.H21.
References edit
- Demerliac, Alain (1999). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 à 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381247. OCLC 492783890.
- 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.