HMS Poictiers (1809)
Poictiers
HMS Poictiers was yet another Peake and Rule Armada Class 74 gun ship of the line, ordered on the 1st of October,1806. Built by John King at Upnor, she was laid down in the August of 1807, and was launched on the 9th of December,1809. Fitting out at Chatham was completed on the 4th of May,1810.
GREAT BRITAIN Name: HMS Poictiers Ordered: 1 October 1806 Builder: King, Upnor Laid down: August 1807 Launched: 9 December 1809 Fate: Broken up, 1857 Class and type: Armada class ship of the line Tons burthen: 17643⁄94 (bm) Length: ·Overall:176 ft 3 in (53.7 m)
·Keel:145 ft 2 3⁄8 in (44.3 m)Beam: 47 ft 9 1⁄2 in (14.6 m) Depth of hold: 21 ft 1 in (6.4 m) Propulsion: Sails Sail plan: Full rigged ship Complement: 590 Armament: ·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
·QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades
·Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades
·Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades
Service.
HMS Poictiers was commissioned by Captain John Poo Beresford for service in the Channel in the January of 1810 whilst she was fitting out at Chatham.On the 28th of July, Poictiers together with Seine and Shannon participated in the recapture of the Starling. Then on the 22nd of October in that same year she sailed for Portugal.
On the 10th of January,1811, she was involved in the pursuit of Allemande’s squadron off Ushant. In March she came under the command of Captain Richard Jones in an acting capacity. Whilst under his command, on the 22nd of April, Poictiers, Caledonia and the hired armedcutterNimrod captured the French vessel Auguste. They first removed her cargo of casks of wine, and then destroyed the ship.
Command of Poictiers changed again to another acting captain in 1812. This time it was to be Captain Samuel Jackson who had the ship from the January until the July of that year off the Texel. On the 24th of March, Poictiers was in company with Tonnant, Hogue, Colossus and Bulwark when they captured Emilie.
After Jackson left the ship in July, the ship was ordered to sail for America. Consequently, on the 14th of August, Poictiers now back under the command of Captain Beresford, accompanied Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, who was sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on San Domingo, together with Sophie, Magnet, and Mackerel. Unfortunately Magnet was lost during the voyage, and it was presumed that she had foundered with all hands.
On the 18th of October, Poictiers participated in an action where she rescued Frolic by capturing USS Wasp, commanded by Jacob Jones. Four hours after Wasp had captured Frolic, Captain Beresford hove in sight capturing Wasp and recapturing the Frolic. He then accompanied both ships to Bermuda. Frolic returned to duty and Wasp became HMS Loup Cervier. In November 1818 the proceeds of the sales of ordnance stores and head-money for the men captured on board the Wasp, also for ordnance stores recaptured on board Frolic was paid.
Thereafter, Poictiers captured a number of merchant vessels, alone or with other ships.
On the 29th of October: the brig Little William, of the Isle of Mayo and sailing to Philadelphia; 3rd of November: the brig Logan, from Boston, sailing to Baltimore., 25th of November: the ship Rebecca, from Philadelphia sailing for Madeira;11th of December: schooner Betsy, from Providence (Rhode Island), sailing to Norfolk.In December, the ship Pekin, from Boston sailing to Alexandria (Poictiers was at this time in company with Acasta).
One of these may or may not have been a ship from Brazil carrying a cargo of hides and tallow that USS Argus had captured. Poictiers recaptured the ship off the Virginia Capes in mid-December and sent her into Bermuda.
On the 28th of December Poictiers and Acasta captured the American privateer Herald, of 18 guns (10 mounted), and 50 men, as Herald was sailing from Bordeaux to Baltimore. More captures followed.
In early January 1813, the warships of the squadron blockading New York, of which Poictiers was one, captured a number of vessels. These comprised, the Schooners Syren and Tropic, sailing from New York to Charleston. the Sloop Almira, from New York to Fredericksburg. Thee Brig Industry, voyaging from Rhode Island to Virginia, and the Brig Caroline,on her way from Charleston to New York.
The British armed the Syren with a single gun and a crew of 40 men. She then captured the American Eagle, Herlitz, master, which had been sailing from Cadiz to New York. The next captures were on the 17th of January 1813 of the ship Lydia, from Rhode Islands sailing to Norfolk (Poictiers in company with Acasta and Maidstone); and also in January the schooner Rhoda (Poictiers and Acasta).
On the 24th of February, American brigs Gustavus and Staunch and the American brig Hannah, which Poictiers shared with six other British ships. on the 13th of March 1813 a Swedish brig, from Martinique. On the 29th of March, the American ship Montesquieu (Poictiers in company with Belvidera and the actual captor, the schooner Paz).On the 17th of April a Portuguese schooner, Alliance, sailing from Philadelphia to Jamaica with a cargo of flour, and sent in to Bermuda.Then on the 8th of April, English schooner Bermuda recaptured while sailing from Bermuda to Philadelphia, and used as a tender to Poictiers. The 1st of May saw the capture of American sloop Providence, sailing from Philadelphia to Boston with a cargo of flour and corn, and also dispatched to Bermuda.On the10th of May came the American sloop, Factor, sailing from Philadelphia to Boston with a cargo of cotton, cargo, which having been removed, the vessel was set adrift. On the 13th and 14th of March Poictiers was part of a squadron of 12 ships that shared in the capture of the Christina and Massatoit.
Poictiers fired a few ineffectual shots.
The position of the channel made it necessary for Yankee to pass close to Poictiers
On the 4th or or 5th of July, 1813, the American smack Yankee captured the brig Eagle, which was serving as a tender to Poictiers. The Americans put 40 militiamen on board Yankee and sailed her where Eagle was known to be patrolling. The militiamen concealed themselves while on Yankee's deck there were three men dressed as fishermen, and a calf, a goose, and a sheep were tethered. When Yankee encountered Eagle, Eagle fell for the bait of fresh meat and came alongside. The Americans, under Sailing-Master Percival, came out of hiding and fired their small arms. Although Eagle carried a brass 32-pounder howitzer loaded with canister, she was unable to get off a shot. The Americans then took Eagle into New York. Eagle had two men killed, including her commander Master's Mate H. Morris, and Midshipman W. Price mortally wounded. The remaining eight seamen were taken prisoner.
Poictiers in company with Maidstone and Nimrod captured several vessels. On the13th of August, 1813, brig Anna, of 125 tons, Diego Martinez, master, sailing from Newhaven to Laguira. on the18th of August the ship Manchester. which Poictiers captured alone. On the 29th of August, the brig Mariner; and then on the 3rd of September, the brig Watson.
In addition to these commercial prizes, Poictiers took three American armed vessels. The first, on the 25th of December, was the brig Herald, a 10-gun Privateer pierced for 16 guns and with a crew of 50 men. She had been sailing from Bordeaux to Baltimore. Poictiers was again in company with Acasta and Maidstone. Herald, prior to herself being captured, had taken a ship, a brig, and a schooner. The cargo of the ship Friendship alone had an estimated value of US$400,000.
Next, Poictiers took the American schooner Highflyer, of five guns and 72 men, on the 9th of January,1813. She was on her return from the West Indies, where she had made several captures. Under the command of Captain Jeremiah Grant, Highflyer, of Baltimore, had captured two ships, four brigs, one schooner and one sloop; three of these vessels had been armed. The Royal Navy took Highflyer into service under her existing name.
The third privateer was Yorktown, of 20 guns and 140 men. The actual captor of York Town was Maidstone, with Poictiers and Nimrod in company. Yorktown, under Captain T. W. Story, had taken 11 prizes, including Manchester before Maidstone captured her on the17th of July,1813, after a four-hour chase. The British sent Yorktown and her crew into Halifax. These incidents aside, Poictiers had an uneventful war, though there is a record of one humorous incident. The exhibit center of the town of Lewes, Delaware, has a framed copy of a handwritten letter from Captain Beresford to the town's chief magistrate. Dated the 16th of March, 1813, the letter says:
Sir,
As soon as you receive this, I request you will send 20 live bullocks with a proportionate quantity of vegetables and hay to the Poictiers for the use of Britannic Majesty's squadron now at this anchorage, which will be immediately paid for at the Philadelphia prices. If you refuse to comply with this request I shall be under necessity of destroying your town. I have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient servant,
J. P. Beresford.
Commodore and commander of the British Squadron in the Mouth of the Delaware.
Col. Samuel Boyer Davis, commander of American troops in Lewes, refused the demand, so on the 6th and 7th of April Beresford shelled the town, killing a chicken and wounding a pig. There is a cannonball from Poictiers lodged in the stone foundation of Lewes's Marine Museum.
In the November of 1813, Poictiers was at Halifax, Nova Scotia preparing to escort a convoy of merchant vessels to England when a gale hit the city. It destroyed or damaged many vessels, though Poictiers was able to ride out the gale.
Poictiers returned to Chatham in 1814 for a large repair which took place between the April of1815 and the September of 1817 at a cost of £51,601.
Fate.
She was fitted at Sheerness as a guard ship between the March of 1836 and the September of 1837. She remained in that role at Chatham until March 1848 when she became a depot ship until 1850. In 1857 she was sold out of service and broken up, the breaking up being completed on the 23rd of March, 1857.
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