HMS Brev Drageren (1807)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Denmark
|
|
| Name: | Brevdrageren |
| Builder: | Nyholm Dockyard |
| Launched: | 1801 |
| Fate: | Surrendered to the British after the Battle of Copenhagen |
 UK
|
|
| Name: | HMS Brev Drageren |
| Acquired: | Captured from Denmark 7 September 1807 |
| Commissioned: | 1808 |
| Honours and awards: |
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "21 March Boat Service 1813" |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking 13 October 1825 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Brevdrageren-class light brig |
| Tons burthen: | 181 68⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 22 ft 9 in (6.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 3 1⁄2 in (3.1 m) |
| Sail plan: | Brig |
| Complement: |
|
| Armament: | 2 x 6-pounder guns + 10 x 18-pounder carronades (Royal Navy service) |
HMS Brev Drageren (also Brevdrageren) was the Danish let brigger (light brig) Brevdrageren, which was one of the many vessels the Danes surrendered to the British after the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She was involved in two notable actions while in British service before she was sold in 1825.
Brevdrageren was built at Nyholm Dockyard to a design by F.C.H. Hohlenberg and launched in 1801. She was the name-ship of a two-vessel class, and both she and her sister Fama had distinctive pinched or "pink" sterns, that is, sterns that were rounded rather than the more normal square stern. Another vessel, Fehmern, was built similarly to Brevdrageren and her sister, but was slightly heavier. These vessels were much smaller than the heavy brigs designed for combat and the Danes used them as despatch vessels; Brevdrageren in Danish means "Despatch" or "Letter Carrier".
Her official Danish armament was eight 4-pounder guns and four 12-pounder carronades. Alternatively, she may have carried two 6-pounder guns, and sixteen 12-pounder carronades, since accounts differ.
The Royal Navy surveyed Brev Drageren and refitted her at Chatham. She was commissioned under Lieutenant J. S. A. Dennis. In 1809 the Navy considered renaming her Cockatrice but that plan fell through. Command then passed to a Lieutenant Charles C. Dobson, who was later court martialed for an "unnatural crime" committed in September 1809 while in command.
On 24 August 1809, Patriot, was in company with the schooner Paz, the gun-vessel Jahde and two boats detached from Brev Drageren and Censor. Together they captured property at Harlinger Zyl, together with a Danish privateer and a mutt in ballast.
Lieutenant Thomas Barker Devon, ex-First Lieutenant of Crocodile, took command of Brev Drageren on 12 October 1809. On 31 July 1811, Brev Drageren and Algerine were cruising together in Long Sound, Norway, when they encountered and engaged three Danish brigs, Lolland, under the command of Captain Hans Peter Holm, and Kiel and Lougen. The Danes had 54 guns and 480 men, against the British 22 guns and 107 men; outnumbered and outgunned, the British vessels took flight.
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Wikipedia