HMS Favorite (1806)
HMS "Favorite" was an 18-gun , launched in 1806 and broken up in 1821. In her career she sailed as far North America, the Caribbean, Africa, South America, and the Far East. She captured or recaptured several merchant ships and a handful of privateers. Napoleonic Wars. Commander John Mairne in November 1806 commissioned "Favorite" for the Channel Station. On 21 May 1807 he sailed with a convoy for Africa. Nairne died in July and Lieutenant Frederick Hoffman, First Lieutenant of , was appointed as "Favorite"s acting commander. On 22 October "Favorite" arrived at Barbados after a seven-week  voyage, having escorted five slave ships from Bance Island, one of the last British convoys of such vessels. She then served under the command of Commander William Standway Parkinson in the Leeward Islands. He was promoted to post captain on 9 February 1808 when he arrived at the Admiralty with the dispatches announcing the surrender of the Danish West Indian colonies. In 1808 Commander Benjamin Clement transferred from to "Favorite". Her primary role was to protect trade from privateers operating out of Cuba. On 24 May "Favorite" was at Falmouth, Jamaica, when a fire broke out in the town. Clement  landed his crew and they saved much property, the hospital, and many houses. While fighting the fire fell through the roof of a house, sustaining some injuries. Subsequently, yellow fever started to devastate his crew, many of whom died; Clement himself survived three attacks. With only 45 men able to man her, "Favorite" escorted a convoy of 60 merchant vessels, holding five hovering privateers at bay. When he made use of an impress warrant, properly signed by the Governor and a magistrate, in Montego Bay, he was forced to pay £535 damages when two actions were brought against him . (Although the loss was incurred in the course of his duty, he never recovered any money.) When "Favorite" returned to Port Royal she received replacement crew from , which had been wrecked on 24 May 1808. In January 1809 "Favorite" sailed to Curacoa and Clement visited Caracas. At some point Clement captured a Spanish letter of marque named "Esperance", of 10 guns and 40 men. Clement burned "Esperrance" on the orders of Captain Miciah Malbon, of . This took place after the United Kingdom and Spain had declared peace, but before official word had reached Jamaica. "Esperance"s owners sued Clement in the  Vice admiralty court in Jamaica. Although the court found in Clement's favor, defending himself cost Clement £300. On 27 July 1809 "Favorite" sailed from Jamaica as escort to a convoy of 36 merchant vessels to England. On 27 August the convoy encountered a hurricane during which several merchant vessels foundered. "Favorite" arrived at Deal on 18 September, having lost her top masts and having sustained other damage. "Favorite" then served on the Plymouth station. On 9 May 1810, was eight leagues off The Lizard when she was finally able to capture the French privateer schooner "Dorade" after a  seven-hour chase. "Dorade" carried ten guns and a crew of 43 men under the command of Emmanuel Ives Le Roux. "Favorite" had joined the chase and it was fire from "Favorite" that brought down the privateer's main and foretop masts, enabling "Orestes" to effect the capture. "Dorade" was a new vessel on her first cruise; she had left the Île de Batz only the previous evening and had made no captures. arrived at Plymouth on 17 May. On 17 December the Swedish vessel "Neutrality" arrived at Plymouth. She had been sailing from London to Alicante in ballast when  Favorite detained her. "Favorite" also drove a convoy on shore near the Isle of Bas under the fire of two shore batteries and recaptured several British merchant vessels. Captain Clement was promoted to post captain on 1 August 1811. "Favorite" was reclassified as a post ship. Captain Robert Forbes then took command. On 21 January 1812 "Union", Corbetta, master, arrived at Falmouth. She had been sailing from Corruna to London when a French privateer had captured her. However, "Favorite" had recaptured "Union". The French privateer "Brestois" captured "Vigilant", Stevens, master, on 13 January as "Vigilant" was sailing from Demerara to  Liverpool. "Favorite" recaptured "Vigilant" and sent her into Plymouth, where she arrived on 26 January. On 10 February "Two Brothers", Dixey, master, of Saint-Malo, arrived at Plymouth after "Favorite" had detained her. Captain John Maxwell took command of "Favorite" on 27 April 1812. On 5 January "Lloyd's List" reported that "Favorite" had recaptured and sent into Plymouth "Guardian", Musgrave, master, which the French privateer "Augusta" had captured as "Guardian" was sailing from Suriname to London. "Augusta" had also captured two other merchantmen that had recaptured. "Favorite" sailed for the West Coast of Africa on 2 June 1813 and  had arrived by mid-July; she was at Cape Coast Castle by August. Maxwell visited all the British settlements on the coast of Africa, destroyed several slave forts on the Rio Pongus and captured four Portuguese slavers. In 1814 "Favorite" went int Ordinary at Woolwich. Between June and October she was under the command of Captain John Maples as she underwent repairs at Woolwich. Captain the Honourable James Ashley Maude received promotion to post captain on 11 March 1814. He then recommissioned "Favorite" on 14 October. He sailed her to North America and in her brought home the ratification (17  February 1815) by the United States Senate of the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812. He arrived at the Foreign office on 13 March 1815. Post-war. After the battle of Waterloo, Captain Maude sailed "Favorite" to India with the news of Napoleon's defeat. She apparently reached Madras on the same day that the overland express arrived there. On 17 June 1816 "Favorite" detained and sent her into Bombay for adjudication. The Vice admiralty court found that "Sullimany" had been carrying 14 Negro slaves and confiscated them. In July 1816, Maude discovered eight islands on the  southern side of the Persian Gulp, previously unknown to European navigators. "Favorite" left Trincomalee, Ceylon, for home on 26 December 1816. She carried several passengers, including Captain Hew Stewart, whom a court martial had dismissed from command of on nine charges, including tyranny, oppression, and unofficer-like conduct. "Favorite" was at the Cape of Good Hope for a month. She left St Helena on 29 March 1817 and arrived back at Portsmouth on 25 May. By June 1817 "Favorite" was at Deptford about to be paid off. Between September and December "Favorite" was at Deptford, refitting for foreign service. Captain  Hercules Robinson recommissioned her in September. He sailed her for St. Helena, River Plate, and Newfoundland. "Favorite" returned via Gibraltar and Cadiz, arriving home on 21 December 1820. She then was paid off. Fate. "Favorite" was broken up at Portsmouth in February 1821. Notes, citations, and references. Notes Citations References