HMS Surinam (1799)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
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| Name: | Hussard or Hussar |
| Builder: | Bayonne |
| Launched: | c. January 1799 |
| Captured: | 20 August 1799 |
 UK
|
|
| Name: | Surinam |
| Acquired: | 20 August 1799 by capture |
| Captured: | 23 June 1803 |
 Batavian Republic
|
|
| Name: | Suriname |
| Acquired: | 23 June 1803 by capture |
| Captured: | 1 January 1807 |
|
UK
|
|
| Name: | Surinam or Sasnarang |
| Acquired: | 1 January 1807 by capture |
| Fate: | unknown; struck from lists 1809 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | corvette or sloop |
| Tonnage: | 413 (bm); 417½ (by calculation) |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 30 ft 2 in (9.19 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 8 ft 5 in (2.57 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | sloop |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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The 20-gun French corvette Hussard (or Hussar) was launched in 1799 and the British captured her that same year when they captured Suriname. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Surinam, as there was already an HMS Hussar. The Dutch captured her in 1803, naming her Suriname, but the British recaptured her in 1807 and sent her to Britain. Thereafter she never again served on active duty. She disappeared from the Navy lists in 1809, but her fate is unknown.
On 20 August 1799, a British force under the command of Lieutenant-General Thomas Trigge and Vice Admiral the Right Honourable Lord Hugh Seymour captured the Dutch colony of Suriname. Among the various items of booty was the French corvette Hussar. The American ships USS Portsmouth (24) and USS Scammel (12), searching for French vessels that had been preying on American merchantmen, had blockaded Hussar for two months in the Suriname River. Eventually, Hussar surrendered to the Americans, who removed her crew. Shortly thereafter the British arrived and captured Suriname. The Americans agreed that the British had rights to Hussar herself as she had been in inland waters upon the surrender of Suriname. (The British also captured the Dutch brig-sloop Kemphaan, which they took into service under the name Camphaan.) The letter reporting the corvette's capture describes her as "The French Corvette L'Hussar, a very fine Vessel, only Seven Months old; mounts Twenty Nine-Pounders". The British renamed her Surinam and Lieutenant Christopher Cole, of Prince of Wales was appointed to command her.
Surinam then served on the Leeward Islands station. Over the period from late March to early April 1800 Cole captured two French privateers and recaptured a merchant schooner. First, on 24 March, he captured the sloop Consolateur, of one gun and 35 men. She too left Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe on a cruise. Second, two days later he captured the sloop Renard, of three guns and 15 men. She two had left Point-à-Pitre. Lastly, on 3 April re recaptured the schooner Lack.
Cole also introduced new regulations aboard his ship that kept his men in good health in the Caribbean Sea. In 1801, Seymour died from a fever, but Cole's activities had already been noticed by Sir John Thomas Duckworth who replaced Seymour and Cole was made a post captain on 30 June 1801 in Duckworth's flagship Leviathan. Cole's replacement was Lieutenant Randall MacDonnell. His replacement, in 1803, was Commander Robert Tucker (acting).
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Wikipedia