Dutch frigate Proserpine (1801)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Batavian Republic | |
| Name | Proserpine |
| Builder | Amsterdam |
| Launched | 1801 |
| Captured | 1805 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Amsterdam |
| Acquired | 5 May 1804 by capture |
| Fate | Sold 1815 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 849 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 37 ft 6 in (11.4 m) |
| Depth of hold | 11 ft 11 in (3.6 m) |
| Complement | 85 (as storeship) |
| Armament |
|
Proserpine was launched at Amsterdam in 1801 as a 32-gun frigate. The Royal Navy captured her in May 1804 at the capture of Surinam and took her into service as HMS Amsterdam. She sailed to England where she became a guard and storeship at Cork. She was sold in 1815.
Capture
The British captured Surinam from the Dutch on 5 May 1804. The Batavian flotilla that the British captured was under the command of naval Captain H. 0. Bloys Van Trestong, captain of Proserpine.[2] The other naval vessels were the corvette Pilades,[3] the schooner George (10 guns), and seven gunboats.[4]
Prize money in the amount of £32,000 was paid in March 1808 to the officers and crew of the Royal Navy vessels involved in the capture of the colony of Surinam.[5]
Royal Navy
In December 1804, Amsterdam recaptured Horatio, of Liverpool, Lawson, master, that a French privateer had captured as Horatio was sailing from Africa to the West Indies with a cargo of slaves. Horatio was taken into Demerara, where she landed 114 slaves. The report in the London Gazette gives the slave ship's name as Lord Nelson.[6] A report in Lloyd's List (LL) gave the vessel's name as Horatio, and also mentioned that the privateer had removed 160 of her people.[7] A later report revealed that the privateer had taken out 160 of her slaves, along with her crew, excepting the carpenter, boatswain, and one or two seamen.[8]
In May Captain Ferris was in command of Amsterdam and on 5 May she sailed from Antigua for England. She arrived at Spithead on 13 June and then went into Portsmouth Harbour. She was laid up in Ordinary there on 2 July. Her crew were distributed to HMS Namur and Royal William.[8]
Between May and August 1806 Amsterdam underwent fitting as a storeship for Cork. Commander Alexander Innes commissioned her in May as a guardship at Cork. In June 1807 Commander Edward W. Hoare replaced Innes.[1]
Amsterdam shared with Trent and the ship's tender Cecilia in the proceeds of the detention on 31 August 1807 of the Danish vessels Aurora and Brothers.[9] Given that Trent was a hospital ship at Cork, the detention was certainly the work of Cecilia.[a]
In September 1809 Commander William Morce assumed command of Amsterdam. In May 1811 she was at Plymouth being fitted as a receiving ship. Between 1812 and 1814 she was in Ordinary at Plymouth.[1]
Fate
Amsterdam was sold at Plymouth on 9 August 1815 for £1,150.[1]
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d Winfield (2008), p. 215.
- ^ Verhandelingen en Berigten..., (1852),Vol. 12, p.624.
- ^ "No. 15712". The London Gazette. 16 June 1804. p. 758.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, vol. 14, p.346.
- ^ "No. 16121". The London Gazette. 20 February 1808. pp. 273–274.
- ^ "No. 15794". The London Gazette. 2 April 1805. p. 436.
- ^ LL №4192.
- ^ a b "Naval Database: Amsterdam (1804)". Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ "No. 16799". The London Gazette. 6 November 1813. p. 2174.
- ^ Winfield (2008), p. 394.
References
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
- Verhandelingen en Berigten Betrekkelijk het Zeewezen, Zeevaartkunde, de Hydrographie, de Koloniën, (1852), Vol. 12.