HMS Selby (1798)
HMS "Selby" was the mercantile "Selby" built in 1791 at Whitby. She was a North Sea and Baltic trader until the British Royal Navy purchased her in 1798. "Selby"s purchase was one of a number of purchases of armed ships or ship-sloops where the Navy's intent was to use them as convoy escorts. "Selby" was at the raid on Dunkirk, though she played no real role. The Navy sold her in 1801. She then returned to being a merchantman. She was probably wrecked in February 1807, but was still listed until 1810, trading between London  and Jamaica. Merchantman. "Selby" first appears in published British registries in the 1793 volume of "Lloyd's Register". Her master is Woodhouse, and her owner is Woodcock. Her trade is Liverpool to Ostend. "Selby" still appears in the 1799 volume of "Lloyd's Register", which presumably went to press before her sale to the Navy. Her master is Thompson, and she is sailing between Riga and Portsmouth. Naval career. The Navy purchased "Selby" in 1798. Between 5 April and 3 May she was at Perry & Co., Blackwall, undergoing fitting-out. Commander Thomas Palmer commissioned "Selby" in May 1798 at Sheerness . Then on 16 July she moved to Woolwich Dockyard for further work. "Selby" was at the Nore when at 7:30 in the morning of 3 May 1800 Palmer shot himself. A brief obituary in the "Naval Chronicle" reported, "the unfortunate death ... of Captain Palmer, of the Selby sloop of war, who shot himself in a fit of insanity; which circumstance, however deplorable, will tend, in the eyes of his friends, to lessen the calamity." At some point Commander William Compton took command of "Selby" and he was her captain between 27 June and 8 July 1800, when "Selby" participated in  the raid on Dunkirk. This was an operation to capture the French frigate "Désirée" from Dunkerque harbour and burn other vessels. Contrary winds and a succession of unfavourable tides afforded no opportunity of making the attack until 7 July. Captain Inman, of , was in charge of the operation. He sent , under Patrick Campbell, against the easternmost vessel, and loosed his four fireships, , , , and against the westernmost vessels. "Dart" captured "Désirée" on 8 July. Even though their captains remained on the fireships until the four were engulfed in flames, the three frigates that were their targets cut their cables and escaped  down the Inner Channel within the Braak Sand. There one briefly ran aground but her crew got her off again. Inman had kept "Selby" back, intending that if any French vessels ran aground she could come up and throw carcasses aboard them. He stated that his plan had been an error in that if "Selby" had been forward he was sure that she could have captured that vessel. "Désirée" was subsequently purchased into the Royal Navy. The officers and crews of many British vessels, "Rosario" among them, shared in the proceeds of the capture. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the  Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Capture of the Desiree" to all surviving claimants from the action. On 19 Mar 1801 "Selby" recaptured "Freedom", James Holden, master, which a French privateer had previously taken. The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Selby", of 348 tons and copper-fastened, for sale at Sheerness on 16 December 1801. She sold on that day for £1850. Merchantman. "Selby" appears in "Lloyd's Register" ("LR") for 1802 with Thompson, master, and Woodcock, owner. On 12 April 1804, "Selby", Peters, master, Cox & Co. owners, ran aground at Margate on her  way to Jamaica. Between 19 and 22 February 1807, numerous British vessels were driven ashore in France. "Selby", of 250 tons and 14 men was one of the vessels driven ashore between Havre and Dunkirk. Two of her 14 crew were lost. (There is no other "Selby" listed in "LR".) "Selby" was last listed in the "Register of Shipping" in 1810 with D. Peters, master, Higgins, owner, and trade London—Jamaica. Citations and references. Citations References