HMS Pickle (1800)
Replica of HMS Pickle at Portsmouth
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HM Schooner Pickle |
| Launched: | 1799 |
| Acquired: | Purchased January 1801 as Sting |
| Renamed: | Pickle, 1802 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sunk after running aground near Cádiz, 1808 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Topsail schooner |
| Tons burthen: | 127 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 20 ft 7 1⁄4 in (6.3 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 9 ft 6 in (2.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Gaff rig with square topsail on foremast |
| Complement: | about 40 |
| Armament: | 8 x 12-pounder carronades |
HMS Pickle was a topsail schooner of the Royal Navy. She was originally a civilian vessel named Sting, of six guns, that Lord Hugh Seymour purchased to use as a tender on the Jamaica station. Pickle was at the Battle of Trafalgar, and though she was too small to take part in the fighting, Pickle was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory to Great Britain. She also participated in a notable single-ship action when she captured the French privateer Favorite in 1807. Pickle was wrecked in 1808, but without loss of life.
Originally named Sting, Pickle was built in 1799 in Bermuda, where this type of vessel was known as a Bermuda sloop. Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, the commander in chief on the Jamaica Station, formally purchased Sting in December 1800 for £2,500, after having leased her for some time at £10 per day. His purchase was in defiance of orders not to purchase vessels. However, faced with a fait accompli, the Admiralty issued an order in February 1801 that her name be changed to Pickle.
Interestingly, between April and June 1800, on the Leeward Island station, a Pickle participated in the capture of four prizes and a recapture. Sting may have been known as Pickle on station long before the Admiralty made her name change official as the London Gazette seems to have no mention of a Sting during this period. That said, the Naval Chronicle numbers the "schooner Sting" among the vessels escorting the convoy in which Lowestoffe wrecked on 10 August 1801. Lastly, the Admiralty admonished Sting's commander after September 1801, Lieutenant Thomas Thrush, to cease referring to her as Sting and to refer to her as Pickle.
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