HMS Subtle (1807)
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK
|
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| Name: | HMS Subtle |
| Acquired: | 1807 by capture; purchased and registered 1808 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Foundered 30 November 1812 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 139 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 21 ft 1 in (6.4 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 9 ft 6 in (2.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Schooner |
| Armament: | 10 guns |
HMS Subtle was a schooner that the Royal Navy reportedly captured in 1807, and purchased and registered in 1808. She served in the Caribbean, taking part in several actions, including a small debacle in 1808, and the capture of Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1809. She foundered in November 1812 with the loss of her entire crew.
Based on Admiralty records, Winfield reports that she was the possibly a privateer, possibly under the Danish flag, and sailing as Subtle. Unfortunately, there are no readily available online records that indicate the capture of any Danish (or Dutch - some reports state Subtle was Dutch), vessel named Subtle. It is possible that she had another name that the Royal Navy changed. For instance, the Royal Navy captured 12 Danish schooners at Christianstadt in the Danish West Indies on 25 December 1807, some of which had names that matched those of serving Navy vessels. It would have been standard Royal Navy practice to rename a capture to avoid duplicating names, reusing the names of recently lost or sold naval vessels. The Royal Navy schooner Subtle had just been wrecked at Bermuda on 20 October 1807, making her name available.
Lieutenant Charles Nicholson commissioned Subtle at Antigua in 1807. In 1808 Lieutenant George A. Spearing replaced Nicholson.
On 3 July, Subtle was cruising with the ship-sloop Wanderer and the schooner Ballahoo between the islands of Anguilla and Saint Martin, the small squadron attempted an attack on St. Martin with a view to reducing the number of havens available to French privateers, but unfortunately the opposition proved stronger than intelligence had led the British to expect.
The attack turned into a disaster. A landing party of 38 seamen and marines from all three vessels, under Lieutenant Spearing of Subtle, succeeded in capturing a lower battery with few losses and spiking six guns. An attack on the upper fort failed, with Spearing being killed a few feet from the French ramparts. When the British withdrew to their boats the French captured them. In all, the British lost seven killed and 30 wounded, all the dead and 17 of the wounded being from Subtle, which had contributed 43 men to the landing. The French lost one man wounded.
Not surprisingly, French and British accounts differ substantially in several places. Crofton reported that the British landing party consisted of 135 men, whereas a French account talks of 200 men, all of whom were killed or captured. (The total establishment of the three British vessels amounted to about 190 men.) Crofton negotiated a truce under which he was able to reclaim all the prisoners who could be moved. Crofton claimed that the French had been forewarned and had 900 men in the fort. The French claimed the fort had a garrison of 28 regulars and 15 militia men. That the French permitted their British prisoners to leave is more consistent with the French figures on their numbers than the British. Crofton reported that the French buried the English dead with full military honors with both the fort and the British firing salutes.
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