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History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Juniper
Ordered	February 1808
Builder	Bermuda
Laid down	1808
Launched	1809
Honours and; awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "St. Sebastian"
Fate	Sold 3 November 1814
General characteristics
Class and type	Shamrock-class schooner
Tons burthen	15032⁄94 (bm)
Length	Overall:78 ft 8 in (24.0 m); Keel:60 ft 8+1⁄8 in (18.5 m);
Beam	21 ft 7 in (6.6 m)
Depth of hold	7 ft 10 in (2.4 m)
Sail plan	Schooner
Armament	6 × 12-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Juniper was launched at Bermuda in 1809 for the British Royal Navy. She participated in one campaign for which her crew was awarded the Naval General Service Medal (1847) with clasp "San Sebastian". She also participated in the capture of several merchant ships. The Navy sold her in 1814.

Career

Lieutenant Nathaniel Vassall commissioned Juniper at Halifax in 1809.^[2]

On 27 October 1809 Juniper sent into Bermuda the American brig Sukey, Osgood, master. Sukey had been sailing from Sumatra to Salem.^[3]

On 15 July 1812 HMS Spartan and Juniper captured the brig Start. Start, of 173 tons (bm), P.Hazelton, master, had been sailing from St Ubes to Newburyport, Massachusetts with a cargo of salt.^[4]^[a]

On 6 July Juniper captured the American vessel Friendship.^[6]^[b] Lloyd's List reported that the Juniper cutter had detained Friendship, Wood, master, on 22 July. Juniper removed $20,000 of goods and permitted Friendship to proceed on to Boston.^[8]

On 27 December 1812 Juniper sailed from Rio de Janeiro as escort to four British merchant vessels bound for Great Britain; one was 1790 ship, Jackson, master, bound for Greenock.^[9] One of the vessels, Elizabeth, Holt, master, immediately developed a leak and next morning turned back for Rio. Before evening, the USS Essex captured her and on 17 January 1813 took her into Rio. An American master and prize crew sailed Elizabeth out on 5 February and burnt her under Fort Santa Cruz,^[10] at the entrance of Rio de Janeiro, in Guanabara Bay.

Juniper underwent repairs at Portsmouth in May-July 1813.^[2]

On 14 August 1813, Juniper, in company with President, Urgent, and Beagle, captured Marmion.^[11]

Juniper, Beagle, and Holly participated in the Siege of San Sebastián (7 July - 8 September 1813) as part of the fleet under Captain George Collier assigned to help Sir Arthur Wellesley's campaigns in Portugal and Spain. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General service Medal with clasp "St. Sebastian" to surviving participants in the campaign.

Disposal

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the Juniper schooner, of 159 tons", for sale on 4 November.^[12] She sold on that date for £400.^[2]

Post-script

On 30 August 1817 Diadem, Wells, master, was on her way from Jamaica to Saint John, New Brunswick, when two vessels stopped her and boarded her. The two were the brigantine Mexican Congress, under the independent flag, the schooner Juniper, under the Venezuelan flag.^[13]

Notes

^ A second-class share of the prize money awarded to Juniper was worth £24 6s 7d; this was the award that Lieutenant Vassall received. A sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £1 10s 8+1⁄4d.^[5]
^ A second-class share of the prize money was worth £199 14s 7+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth £19 6s 5d, or almost a year's wages.^[7]

Citations

^ "No. 20939". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. p. 244.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Winfield (2008), p. 362.
^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4433. 16 February 1810. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735024. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
^ Vice-Admiralty Court (1911), p. 156.
^ "No. 17034". The London Gazette. 4 July 1815. p. 1324.
^ "No. 17041". The London Gazette. 18 July 1815. p. 1463.
^ "No. 17041". The London Gazette. 18 July 1815.
^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4709. 9 October 1812. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735025. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4768. 7 May 1813. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735026. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4765. 27 April 1813. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735026. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
^ "No. 16888". The London Gazette. 23 April 1814. p. 864.
^ "No. 16949". The London Gazette. 22 October 1814. p. 2105.
^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5230. 18 November 1817. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735028. Retrieved 10 July 2020.

References

Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
Vice-Admiralty Court, Halifax (1911). American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute.