HMS Hornet (1794)
HMS "Hornet" was a 16-gun ship-rigged sloop of the "Cormorant" class in the Royal Navy, ordered 18 February 1793, built by Marmaduke Stalkart and launched 3 February 1794 at Rotherhithe. "Hornet" saw most of her active duty during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars she served for about six years as a hospital ship before being laid up in 1811 and sold in 1817. Career. "Hornet" was commissioned in March 1794 under Commander Christmas Paul. On 26 June 1794 she fired a salute to the King and Queen while they were visiting Portsmouth . "Hornet" shared with , , , and in the capture of the "Lust en Vlyt" on 22 August. "Hornet" was then paid off February 1795 and recommissioned under W. Lakin. In January 1796 Commander Robert Larkan sailed her in Home waters. On 4 February 1796 "Hornet" was in company with the hired armed cutter "Grand Falconer" when they recaptured the Portuguese brig "Diana". Next, on 17 May, "Hornet" captured the French transport "Emilie". Then in November 1796, Commander John Nash replaced Larkan. On 10 March 1798 the Admiralty published a list of six vessels that , under Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball, and "Hornet" had  captured off Gorée: "Daedalus" and letters of marque "Ellis" and "St Ann" shared, by agreement, in the capture of "Quaker" (December 1797) and "Ocean" (January 1798). This "Ellis" was almost surely the ship that received her warrant on 18 September 1797. She was under the command of James Soutar, was of 303 tons burthen, and was armed with sixteen 8, 9, and 12-pounder guns. She is listed as having had only 30 crew. "St Ann" is in all probability the "St Anne" that received her warrant on 30 September 1797. She was under the command of Robert James, was  of 243 tons burthen, and was armed with sixteen 9-pounders. She too had a crew of 30 men. "Hornet" was refitted for £3,554 at Portsmouth in June and July 1799. In August "Hornet" was part of the British fleet that captured the Dutch fleet in the Vlieter Incident. Nash then sailed "Hornet" to the West Indies. In 1800 she accompanied a convoy to the West Indies. While at Guadeloupe in October, a boat from "Hornet" attempted to press some men off the "New Ceres", whose crew resisted, killing "Hornet"s second lieutenant, and wounding another crewman. The next day  Hornet tried again, this time in force, but all the crew except the chief mate and steward had disappeared. Captain Nash turned the two men over to the civil authorities. On 27 November 1800, "Hornet" captured the French privateer "Femme Divorcee". On 16 October "Hornet" captured the French privateer "Mahomet". On 15 January 1801, the 20-gun , Captain Richard Matson, 18-gun ship-sloops and "Hornet", captains Henry Matson and John Nash, and the (a schooner serving as a tender), were at an anchor in the harbour of the Îles des Saintes. The British observed a convoy of French coasters , with an armed schooner as escort, sailing towards Vieux-Fort, Guadeloupe. At midnight "Garland", together with two boats from each of the other three vessels, attempted to cut out the convoy. However, all of the convoy, but one, were able to shelter under the guns of Basse-Terre. The British were able to take the one French vessel that had anchored near Vieux-Fort. On 17 January, boats from "Hornet", together with boats from "Daphne", set out to cut out a ship moored under the protection of shore batteries at Trois-Rivières, Guadeloupe. This was "Eclair", a schooner that had  recently sailed from Rochefort. "Eclair" was of 145 tons, had a crew of 45 men, and was armed with four 4-pounder guns and twenty 1½-pounder brass swivel guns, though she was pierced for 12 guns. A party from "Garland" succeeded in taking "Eclair" the next day. Fire from the schooner killed two men and wounded another. The French lost one seaman killed, two drowned, and her captain, first and second lieutenants, and six men wounded. The British took her into service as the 10-gun . In March, "Hornet" participated in Rear Admiral Duckworth's successful attack on the islands  of St. Bartholomew and St. Martin. On 23 March, "Hornet" and the 16-gun hired armed brig "Fanny", later joined by 14-gun , attempted to capture two privateers, a brig and a schooner, but were unsuccessful though they chased the privateers for some 24 hours. The 32-gun frigate , "Hornet", and "Drake" stayed at St. Martin to secure the island and to embark the garrison on 26 March, while the rest of Duckworth's force went on to St Thomas. The proceeds of the property seized at St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St. Thomas, and St. Croix between 15 March and  17 April was paid out in January 1804. At some point thereafter, "Hornet" was in company with when they captured the Spanish vessel "Aguilla". On or about 26 November 1801 "Hornet" encountered , a Liverpool slave ship, which was under the control of mutineers. "Hornet" took "Friendship" into Carlisle Bay, Barbados. In August 1802 "Hornet" came under the command of Lieutenant Robert Tucker. Next month Commander Peter Hunt replaced Tucker. In June 1803, "Hornet" was in Commodore Samuel Hood's squadron at the capture of St. Lucia. The squadron, including "Hornet", went on to capture Tobago on 25 June. On 3  September "Hornet" captured a Dutch ship, whose name was not recorded, that was carrying 410 slaves. Then in September Hood went on to take the colonies of Demerara and Essequibo from the Batavian Republic. On 20 September "Hornet", the schooner , and 200 troops entered the Demerara River and took possession of Fort William Frederick. At the capitulation, the British took over the Batavian Republic's sole warship there, . In 1804 Commander John Lawrence took command of "Hornet". Fate. Paid off in 1804 from active service, "Hornet" was fitted at Plymouth between September 1804 and July 1805 for the Medical Military  Staff, and was commissioned in June 1805 under Lieutenant Charles Williams as a hospital ship in the Isles of Scilly. Charles's brother, Henry Williams, fell overboard in 1810 and was drowned. He was buried in the Tresco Abbey Gardens. Fate. "Hornet" was paid off from her service as a hospital ship and was laid up at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1811. The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" first offered the "Hornet sloop, of 429 tons", lying at Plymouth, for sale on 30 January 1817. "Hornet" finally sold on 30 October 1817 to a Mr Bailey  for £920 (). Notable personnel. From November 1795 to September 1797, Richard Spencer, a future hero of the Napoleonic Wars and Australian pioneer, served as a midshipman on "Hornet". Notes, citations, and references. Notes Citations References