HMS Hesper ( 1809 ) HMS " Hesper " was a Royal Navy 18 - gun ship - sloop of the " Cormorant " class , launched in 1809 at Dartmouth . Her original builder , Benjamin Tanner , became bankrupt during her construction , so John Cock completed her . In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20 - gun sixth rate ship ( but without being re - armed ) ; in 1817 she was again re - rated , this time as 26 guns . She served primarily in the Indian Ocean . In 1810 she participated in the Invasion of Isle de France . The next year " Hesper " participated in the capture of Java , which she followed in 1812 by capturing Timor . She was sold in 1817 . Service . G . Aklom apparently commissioned " Hesper " in March 1807 . However , " Hesper " was not launched until 1809 and did not actually enter service until 1809 . Captain George Hoare was appointed to " Hesper " in 1809 , commissioned her in August and sailed for the Indian Ocean on 9 October . In October 1810 Commander David Paterson took command . " Hesper " was detailed for service with the squadron under Admiral Albemarle Bertie engaged in the invasion of Isle de France ( Mauritius ) . Bertie set " Hesper " and to join the squadron blockading Port Louis . While she was there , she and the government armed ship " Emma " , Lieutenant B . Street commanding , performed a useful reconnaissance taking soundings at night of the anchorage on the coast , a service for which Bertie commended them . They identified a place in a narrow strait between an islet called the Gunner ' s Coin and the coast where the fleet could anchor and where boats could land through an opening in the reef . The island surrendered on 3 December . In September 1814 prize money was paid to the officers and crews of the vessels that had been present at the capture of Isle de France . Following the successful invasion , " Hesper " was at the centre of a dispute between Admiral Bertie and Admiral William O ' Bryen Drury whose commands overlapped . Bertie appointed Lieutenant Edward Lloyd to command " Hesper " and he sailed her back to Bombay with Major - General John Abercrombie and his staff as passengers . There Lloyd found out that Drury had appointed Barrington Reynolds to command her . Although Drury died before the dispute was settled , Reynolds was confirmed in command . On 5 January 1811 , " Hesper " was one of six ships that shared in the capture of the " Mouche " . Later in 1811 , " Hesper " was attached to the squadron of Admiral Robert Stopford that captured Java . On 31 August the frigates " Nisus " , " President " , and " Phoebe " , and " Hesper " were detached to take the seaport of Cheribon . Reynolds received a promotion to Post - captain , confirmed the next year , for his role . In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " Java " to all remaining survivors of the campaign . In February 1812 command passed to Charles Thomas Thurston , who was blown by a storm to Timor , which had been out on contact with Europe for two years . Thurston was able to persuade the Dutch garrison there to surrender and captured the island without fighting . Thurston was later invalided home . Lieutenant Henry Theodosius Browne Collier took command on 30 June 1812 , but he too was invalided home before the confirmation of his promotion to Commander on 24 October 1812 . Command then passed to Commander Joseph Prior . As a lieutenant he had transferred to " Hesper " in 1809 . In October " Hesper " was in the Persian Gulf , delivering despatches to Bushire for the British ambassador at Teheran . She then visited Abu Dhabi . Captain Charles Biddulph replaced Prior in August 1812 and served until 22 April 1815 when he died . Before he died 22 May 1815 , aged 29 , he charted the four Biddulph ' s Islands ( or Biddulph Group ) , which lie on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf . " Hesper " was without a captain for a while and then on 20 September 1815 Michael Matthews was made Commander on " Hesper " . Commander Robert Campbell ( acting ) was his replacement . Fate . " Hesper " was sold in 1817 .