HMS Alphea (1806)
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK
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| Name: | HMS Alphea |
| Ordered: | 2 April 1804 |
| Laid down: | 1804 |
| Launched: | 1806 |
| Fate: | Blown up in action 1813 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Adonis-class |
| Type: | Cutter, converted to schooner |
| Tonnage: | 110 93⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 20 ft 4 in (6.2 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Schooner |
| Complement: | 35 |
| Armament: | 10 × 18-pounder carronades |
HMS Alphea was built of Bermudan pencil cedar as a cutter and launched in 1804. Later she was converted to a schooner. She captured a number of small prizes before September 1813 when she blew up in a single-ship action with the loss of her entire crew.
Alphea was commissioned in March 1806 under Lieutenant J. Marston. She underwent repairs at Plymouth between 6 September 1806 and 12 January 1807. On 27 March 1808, Boadicea, Medusa, cutter Alphea, and schooner Ant captured 25 French fishing vessels.Alphea herself was altered to a schooner at Portsmouth between December 1808 and February 1809.
On 26 April 1809, Alphea recaptured the Pallas. Then on 14 August Alphea recaptured the galliot Zeemeuw. Five days later she recaptured the galliot Frederick William. She was also in sight when Podargus recaptured the Margaretha.Alphea also shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French 14-gun privateer lugger Maraudeur by Rinaldo.
Lieutenant William Gibbons replaced Marston in 1811.
On 23 October a court martial aboard Salvador del Mundo in the Hamoaze dismissed Lieutenant Gibbons from Alphea. On 14 August he had discovered that Mrs. Bentley, the wife of a Royal Marine corporal, was on board Alphea after he had ordered that she not be admitted to the ship. He ordered her put on a boat and taken to shore, but when she became abusive, he told the boat crew to take her no farther than a buoy and leave her there. She was there a quarter of an hour when a boat from the shore took her off. Gibbons stated that he did not know that she was pregnant and that he thought no harm would come to her as he and 13 men had once stood on the buoy. The court martial found that Gibbon's behavior, though highly improper and reprehensible, did not contravene Article 33 of the Articles of War.
In 1812 Lieutenant Thomas William Jones replaced Gibbons. He sailed Alphea for North America on 17 May 1812. On 13 August she was in company when Jason captured the William Tell. When Alphea returned to Britain, the Admiralty dismissed Jones from his command for having detained an American vessel at the commencement of the war with the U.S., in advance of having received authorization.
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