HMS Avon (1805)
USS Wasp rakes HMS Avon, 27 August 1814, by Abel Bowen, from The Naval Monument (1838)
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Avon |
| Ordered: | 9 December 1803 |
| Builder: | Symons of Falmouth |
| Launched: | 31 January 1805 |
| Fate: | Captured, abandoned and sunk 27 August 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Cruizer-class brig-sloop |
| Tonnage: | 382 41⁄94 bm |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 30 ft 6 in (9.3 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 9 in (3.9 m) |
| Sail plan: | Brig rigged |
| Complement: | 121 |
| Armament: | 16 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder bow guns |
HMS Avon was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Symons at Falmouth and launched on 31 January 1805. In the War of 1812 she fought a desperate action with the USS Wasp that resulted in Avon sinking on 27 August 1814.
Avon entered service at Spithead under the command of Commander Francis J. Snell and sailed for the Mediterranean on 18 April 1805. On 7 May she captured the Frisken. By 9 May Avon was off Lisbon, where the schooner Milbrook reported to Snell her capture of the Spanish privateer lugger Travella, of three guns and 40 men, off the Bayona Islands (Baiona), and the recapture of the British brig Stork. Then on 20 January 1806, Avon was present when Pomone recaptured the Maid of the Mill.
In March 1806 Avon came briefly under the command of Commander James Stewart and was employed in convoying and cruising. In May Commander Mauritius Adolphus Newton De Stark took command and sailed Avon in the Channel. He was then given the task of escorting to the Baltic the Russian vessel Neva, which was returning from a voyage of discovery. Hostilities had just begun between Napoleon and Russia and the British government deemed an escort a prudent precaution. For his services the Tsar presented de Stark with a breakfast service of plate and a purse of 100 guineas.
Avon sailed for North America on 28 August. She was carrying Mr Erskine, HM Minister to the United States. On the way to the United States, Avon encountered the French 74-gun Regulus, which gave chase for eight hours, firing constantly, before de Starck was able to lose her in a squall.Avon arrived at Annapolis Royal on 30 October. On his return voyage he met up with a Royal Navy 74-gun ship with orders to go to Bermuda and then to take to Britain despatches from French Admiral Willaumez that Avon had taken from an American vessel she had examined on her way out of the Chesapeake.Avon arrived at Spithead on 7 January 1807.
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