HMS Widgeon was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner built by William Wheaton at Brixham and launched in 1806.[1] Like many of her class and the related Ballahoo-class schooners, she succumbed to the perils of the sea relatively early in her career.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Widgeon |
| Ordered | 11 December 1805 |
| Builder | William Wheaton, Brixham |
| Laid down | March 1806 |
| Launched | 19 June 1806 |
| Fate | Wrecked 20 April 1808 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Cuckoo-class schooner |
| Tons burthen | 7535⁄94 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m) |
| Draught |
|
| Depth of hold | 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m) |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
| Complement | 20 |
| Armament | 4 x 12-pounder carronades |
She was commissioned in 1807 under Lieutenant William Morgan for the North Sea. In 1808 she came under the command of Lieutenant George Elliot.[1]
Widgeon was on the Scottish coast helping to assemble a convoy for America when she received orders to proceed to Banff to notify the ships waiting there that the convoy was about to depart.[2] She arrived there on 18 April 1808 and the next day sent a boat into the port. Widgeon then remained four to five miles offshore while waiting for her boat to return.[2]
During a heavy snowstorm on 20 April, at 2:30am she ran into a reef two miles to the northwest of Banff.[3] Her crew threw shot overboard and fired guns of distress. However, there was a heavy swell and she filled with water within 10 minutes. Although she soon was bilged, her crew took to the boats and were saved.[3][4]
The subsequent court martial on her loss sentenced Widgeon's pilot, Alexander Layell, to six months incarceration in the Marshalsea Prison and to be fined all pay due to him.[2] Elliot had ordered Layell to remain at least four miles from shore throughout the night. Instead, Layell had gone below, leaving a bosun's mate in charge, who had let Widgeon drift towards the shore.[2]
Citations edit
- ^ a b c Winfield (2008), p. 361.
- ^ a b c d Hepper (1994), p. 123.
- ^ a b Gosset (1986), p. 64.
- ^ Grocott (1997), p. 256.
References edit
- Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
- Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
- Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.