HMS Woodcock was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner. Crane & Holmes built and launched her at Great Yarmouth 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
NameHMS Woodcock
Ordered11 December 1805
BuilderCrane & Holmes, Great Yarmouth
Laid downFebruary 1806
Launched11 April 1806
FateWrecked 13 February 1807
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeCuckoo-class schooner
Tons burthen75194 (bm)
Length
  • 56 ft 2 in (17.1 m) (overall)
  • 42 ft 4+18 in (12.9 m) (keel)
Beam18 ft 5 in (5.6 m)
Draught
  • Unladen: 5 ft 0 in (1.5 m)
  • Laden: 7 ft 6 in (2.3 m)
Depth of hold8 ft 5 in (2.6 m)
Sail planSchooner
Complement20
Armament4 x 12-pounder Carronades

She was commissioned in 1806 under Lieutenant Isaac Charles Smith Collett.[1] She was wrecked 13 February 1807 at Vila Franca do Campo, São Miguel in the Azores.[2] She and her sister ship Wagtail had anchored there when a gale came up. Because of the storm it was impossible to clear the land and at 5pm Collett ran her ashore after her anchors had parted and water was continuously washing over her. Lines were passed to the shore and all her crew made it safely to land.[3] Wagtail was wrecked three hours later.

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c Winfield (2008), p. 361.
  2. ^ Gosset (1986), p. 56.
  3. ^ Hepper (1994), p. 117.

References edit

  • Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
  • 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.