HMS Hermes (1798)

HMS Hermes was the mercantile Hermes launched at Shields in 1797. The British Royal Navy purchased her in 1798 and sold her in 1802 after the Treaty of Amiens. She then returned to mercantile service as a West Indiaman. The French captured her in 1805.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hermes and Hermes (ship).

History
Great Britain
Name:	Hermes
Builder:	Thomas Hearn, North Shields[1]
Launched:	1797
Fate:	sold c.1798
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Hermes
Acquired:	1798 by purchase
Fate:	Sold 1802
United Kingdom
Name:	Hermes
Acquired:	1802 by purchase
Captured:	1805
General characteristics [2]
Type:	Ship-sloop
Tonnage:	313,[3] or 331 (bm)[4]
Length:	Overall:100 ft 0 in (30.5 m) Keel:77 ft 0 in (23.5 m)
Beam:	28 ft 5 in (8.7 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 0 in (3.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Ship-rigged
Armament:	British service: Upper deck:16 × 32-pounder carronades Fc:2 × 12-pounder carronades

Career

Royal Navy

The Navy purchased Hermes in 1798 for £2,900 and had her fitted at Gravesend and Deptford.

Commander Henry Vansittart commissioned her in May for the North Sea. Around October he transferred to Bonetta.

In 1799 she was under the command of Commander Jeffrey (Baron von) Reigerafeld. In November she was under the command of Commander David Gilmour. Around January 1801 her captain was Commander James Watson.

Hermes apparently spent her brief navy service convoying in the North Sea, serving without incident.

Disposal: The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Hermes, 313 Tons, lying, at Sheerness" for sale on 30 June 1802.[3] The Navy sold Hermes in June 1802.

Mercantile service

Hermes first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1803 with J.Grant, master, changing to Chapman, Henly, owner, and trade London–Jamaica.[5]

Fate

Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 5 April 1805 that Hermes, Chapman, master, had been captured while sailing from Jamaica to London. Her captors took her into Guadeloupe.[6]

Citations and references

Citations

1. Tyne Built Ships. Accessed 16 August 2019.
2. Winfield (2008), p. 269.
3. "No. 15491". The London Gazette. 22 June 1802. p. 665.
4. Winfield (2008), p. 290.
5. LR (1803), Seq.№H416.
6. LL №4205.

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.