HMS Maria (1807)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Maria
Acquired	1807 by purchase
Commissioned	c. April 1808
Fate	Captured 1808
France
Name	Maria
Acquired	1808 by capture
Fate	Burned February 1809
General characteristics [1]
Type	gun-brig
Tons burthen	172 (bm)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	65
Armament	12 × 12-pounder carronades, 2 × 4-pounder bow chasers

HMS Maria was a gun-brig the Royal Navy purchased in 1807 and commissioned at Antigua in 1808. On 29 September 1808 the French Navy corvette French corvette Department des Landes captured her. The French burnt Maria in February 1809 at Martinique to prevent her recapture.

History

The Royal Navy commissioned Maria at Antigua in the West Indies in April 1808 under the command of Lieutenant James Bennett.^[1]

Action of 29 September

On 29 September 1808, Maria was sailing off Guadeloupe when she encountered Départment des Landes, of 22 guns (sixteen 24-pounder carronades, four 12-pounder guns, and two 9-pounder guns on the quarterdeck), plus a large pivot gun on the forecastle.^[2][a][b] Départment des Landes had a crew of at least 160 men and boys, commanded by Captain Joseph-François Raoul.^[3]

Unable to maneuver, Maria took two broadsides. The French called on Bennett to surrender, which he refused. Three grapeshot from the next broadside killed him.^[4] The master, Joseph Dyason, then continued the combat but eventually had to strike. Maria had suffered six men killed, including Bennett, and nine wounded. The French had suffered at most a couple of men wounded.^[3] After the French had gotten all their prisoners off Maria, the French prize crew had to run her aground at Guadeloupe to prevent her from sinking due to the damage she had sustained.^[3][5] The French provided a cartel to Dominica to permit Dyason to report the loss to Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane.^[2]

Lloyd's List reported on 9 December 1808 that a French corvette had captured Maria at the end of September after a severe action. Her captors had sent Maria into Guadeloupe.^[6]

French service

The French later refloated Maria and took her into the French Navy under her existing name. The French burnt her at Martinique in February 1809 to prevent the British from capturing her during their invasion of Martinique.^[5]

Notes

1. James says sixteen 24-pounder carronades and four long 8-pounders on the main deck, two brass 6-pounders on the quarterdeck, plus a large swivel gun on the forecastle.^[3]
2. Dyason gives the French vessel's name as Sards, which perhaps was a nickname.^[2]

Citations

1. Winfield (2008), p. 350.
2. "No. 16215". The London Gazette. 3 January 1809. p. 16.
3. James (1837), Vol.5, pp.79–80.
4. Hepper (1994), p. 125.
5. Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 221.
6. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4308. 9 December 1809. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735023.

References

• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. R. Bentley.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
• Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.