HMS Dolphin (1813)
HMS "Dolphin" was the 12-gun American privateer schooner "Dolphin" that Admiral John Borlase Warren's squadron captured on 13 April 1813 and that the Royal Navy took into service. As HMS "Dolphin" she participated in boat actions on 29 April and 5 May 1813 for which the Admiralty issued a clasp for the Naval General Service Medal. Her ultimate fate is currently undocumented. Privateer. "Dolphin" had been an American privateer and had carried Baltimore's privateering commission No. 2. Under Captain W.S. Stafford, on 26 July 1812 she captured a British vessel valued at US$18,000 , and in August she captured the schooner "Fanny", valued at a similar amount. In the same month she captured the schooner "James", which she sent into port, and destroyed several doggers. Next she captured and sent into Baltimore the "John Hamilton", of 10 guns and 30 men, laden with several hundred tons of mahogany. She had had an unsuccessful cruise of two months before on 25 January 1813 she captured , of 16 guns and 40 men, and the brig "Three Brothers", of ten guns and 25 men. Captain W.A. Brigham of "Hebe" was wounded by a musket ball and later  injured by a powder explosion. "Dolphin" had four men wounded and the British eight to 10 (accounts differ), including Brigham. recaptured "Hebe" six days later, before she could reach America. "Dolphin" returned to Baltimore on 13 February. In all, as a privateer, "Dolphin" had captured 11 British vessels. One had been burned at sea and another ("Hebe") recaptured. However, nine had been brought safely back to the United States. Battle of Rappahannock River. A British cutting out party of 17 boats under the command of Lieutenant James Polkinghorne was able to work its way 15 miles up the Rappahannock River . There they found four American vessels laying becalmed and out of range of each other. The British captured all four on 3 April 1813: The British first captured "Arab", which put up a strong fight and caused them the heaviest losses of the day. The British then captured the next two with no resistance from "Lynx" and little from "Racer". "Dolphin" resisted for two hours before surrendering. Polkinhorne reported that he had lost two men killed and eleven wounded, including himself, and he received a promotion to commander for his part in the action. American newspapers at first claimed that  the British had lost 50 men, later reporting that British losses were two boats sunk with nineteen killed and forty wounded. Stafford placed his losses at six killed and ten wounded. The others lost five more wounded. Subsequently the British took "Racer", "Lynx", and "Dolphin" into service. It was difficult for the British to free "Arab" and though they eventually succeeded, the vessel was apparently badly damaged and was not commissioned for British service. She was taken to Halifax where the Vice-Admiralty Court condemned her. British service. "Dolphin" retained her name and became a tender commanded by Lieutenant George  Hutchinson. On 29 April 1813, boats from "Dolphin", together with boats from , "Mohawk" and and "Racer", which had not yet been renamed, went up the Chesapeake Bay to Frenchtown to destroy five American ships and stores; they also purchased provisions for the squadron from the locals. This took until 3 May 1813 to complete. On the way back, a battery fired on the British from the shore; a landing party destroyed the battery. The Admiralty would later issue the clasp "28 April Boat Service 1813" for the Naval General Service Medal for the action. The rest of "Dolphin"s service career  and what became of her at the end of the war is unknown. Notes, citations and references. Notes Citations References