Hired armed cutter Lurcher
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Name: | Lurcher |
| Commissioned: | 15 August 1795 |
| Fate: | Captured, 15 January 1801 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cutter |
| Tons burthen: | 102 69⁄94 (bm) |
| Complement: | 40 |
| Armament: | 12 × 3-pounder guns |
His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Lurcher was a 12-gun cutter that served the Royal Navy from 15 August 1795 until 15 January 1801 when a French privateer captured her in the Channel.
On 1 April 1798, Lurcher and the hired armed cutter Nimrod recaptured the Roebuck packet, which the French privateer Adelaide had captured on 20 March. Lurcher and Nimrod sent Roebuck into Plymouth.
In 1799, Lurcher was under the command of Lieutenant J. Betts, and stationed at Portsmouth.
Lurcher shared, with many other British warships, in the capture of the French privateer Aimable Victoire on 29 January 1799. The actual captor, after a chase of eight and a half hours, was Triton. Aimable Victoire was armed with 16 brass 8-pounder guns and two iron 6-pounder guns, and had a crew of 86 men. She was on her first cruise, was one day out of Cherbourg, and had not captured anything.
In May, Lurcher, still under Bett's command, landed at the mouth of the River Shannon to procure fresh provisions for HMS Royal George, Admiral Lord Bridport's flagship.
On 19 June Lurcher, Lieutenant Robert Forbes, came into Plymouth from Brest, with damage that she had sustained in an engagement with a French cutter. Lurcher had succeeded in cutting out the French cutter from the Penmarks.
On 13 November 1800, the hired armed cutters Nile and Lurcher captured the French brig Prothee. Five days later they captured a French privateer brig of 14 guns. Prize money was due to be paid on 10 July 1801 in Plymouth.
Two weeks later, on 23 November, Captain Sir Richard Strachan in Captain chased a French convoy in to the Morbihan where it sheltered under the protection of shore batteries and the 20-gun corvette Réolaise.Magicienne was able to force the corvette onto the shore at Port Navalo, though she got off again. The hired armed cutter Suworow then towed in four boats with Lieutenant Hennah of Captain and a cutting-out party of seamen and marines. The hired armed cutters Nile and Lurcher towed in four more boats from Magicienne. Although the cutting-out party landed under heavy fire of grape and musketry, it was able to set the corvette on fire; shortly thereafter she blew up. Only one British seaman, a crewman from Suworow, was killed. However, Suworow's sails and rigging were so badly cut up that Captain had to tow her.
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