HMS Seagull (1805)
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK
|
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| Name: | HMS Seagull or Sea Gull |
| Ordered: | 12 December 1804 |
| Builder: | John King, Dover |
| Laid down: | January 1803 |
| Launched: | 1 July 1805 |
| Captured: | 19 June 1808 |
 Denmark-Norway
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|
| Name: | The Seagull |
| Acquired: | 19 June 1808 (by capture) |
| Fate: | Transferred to Norway 1814 |
.svg){kind=small} Norway
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| Name: | Seagull |
| Acquired: | 1814 (by transfer) |
| Decommissioned: | 1817 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Seagull-class brig-sloop |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 26 ft 6 in (8.1 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m) |
| Sail plan: | Brig |
| Complement: | 95 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Seagull (or Sea Gull) was the name vessel for the Seagull class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 1 July 1805 and saw active service under the British flag in Danish waters until 19 June 1808 when Dano-Norwegian forces sank her. The Danes raised her and refitted her for service in the Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served until the end of the "English Wars" in 1814. She then was transferred to the Norwegians. She was finally decommissioned in 1817.
Seagull was commissioned under Commander Robert B. Cathcart in August 1805.
O 10 April 1806 she sent a Prussian galiot into the Downs. She was active in 1807 in the North Sea and the Downs and received prize money for the following captures, either alone or in company with other British vessels.
In addition, she recaptured two ships:
Lastly, Seagull's boats retrieved the Dove, which they found drifting and derelict on 29 August 1807 off the coast of France. Dove, of Weymouth, had a cargo of stone. Seagull brought her into the Downs. Lastly, Seagull recaptured the transport Elizabeth, which three privateers had captured on 15 October. Seagull brought the Elizabeth into Dover.
On 19 June 1808, off the Naze of Norway in the vicinity of the port of Kristiansand, Seagull chased the Dano-Norwegian brig Lougen, which was armed with 18 short 18-pounder guns and two long 6-pounder guns.Lougen, under the command of 1st Lieutenant Peter Frederik Wulff (1774-1842), tried to stand off Seagull to take advantage of the longer range of her 18-pounders relative to the range of Seagull's 24-pounder carronades.
The chase brought both vessels close in shore where the breeze was lessening to a near calm. Seagull tried to get between Lougen and the shore to prevent the Dane from reaching Kristiansand.
Unfortunately for Seagull, about 20 minutes into the engagement six Danish gunboats arrived from behind some rocks and in two divisions of three each took up positions on Seagull's quarter, where they fired on her with their 24-pounder guns while Lougen fired on her larboard bow. Within half an hour the Danish fire had badly damaged Seagull's rigging and dismounted five of her guns. Eventually Cathcart, who was himself severely wounded, struck, having lost eight men killed and 20 wounded. Vice-Admiral Thomas Wells, on reading the battle report, expressed his strong opinion that such gallantry should be made public. Lougen had only one man killed and a dozen men slightly wounded.
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Wikipedia