HMS Sealark was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner armed with four 12-pounder carronades and manned by a crew of 20. She was 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 Sealark |
| Ordered | 11 December 1805 |
| Builder | William Wheaton, Brixham |
| Laid down | February 1806 |
| Launched | 1 August 1806 |
| Fate | Foundered 18 June 1809 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Cuckoo-class schooner |
| Tons burthen | 75 68⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 18 ft 4 in (5.6 m) |
| Draught |
|
| Depth of hold | 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m) |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
| Complement | 20 |
| Armament | 4 × 12-pounder carronades |
Service
editShe was commissioned in October 1806 under Lieutenant Thomas Banks for service in the North Sea. Sealark was at the surrender of the Danish Fleet after the Battle of Copenhagen on 7 September. The prize money amounted to £3 8s for an ordinary seaman, or slightly over two months wages.[2] In 1809 she came under the command of Lieutenant James Procter.[1]
Fate
editOn 18 June 1809 she was sailing in company with Blake in the North Sea.[3] A heavy sea swamped her and she sank immediately. Only one member of her crew survived.[4] On 29 June 1809 The Times printed the following: "The Sealark schooner has been upset on the coast of Holland and all hands on board, excepting one man, unfortunately perished."[5]
Citations
edit- ^ a b c Winfield (2008), p. 361.
- ^ "No. 16275". The London Gazette. 11 July 1809. p. 1103.
- ^ Gosset (1986), p. 72.
- ^ Hepper (2023), p. 269.
- ^ Grocott (1997), p. 279.
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. (2023). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1649-1860. Seaforth. ISBN 9781399031028.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.