Hired armed cutter Swan
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Admiralty also made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Swan. Actually there were two such cutters, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches and performed reconnaissance.
The first Swan was launched in 1797 and served the Royal Navy from 1 July 1799 to 24 October 1801. She was a cutter of 14 cannons - twelve 4-pounder guns and two 9-pounder carronades - and a burthen of 12946⁄94 tons (bm).
From 13 August to October 1799 Swan participated in the disastrous Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland under Vice Admiral Andrew Mitchell and Lieutenant General Ralph Abercromby against the Batavian Republic. On 28 August Swan, together with the Hired cutter Active, participated in the capture of the Dutch hulks Drotchterland and Brooderschap, and the ships Helder, Venus, Minerva, and Hector, in the Nieuwe Diep, in Holland. Swan was also among the vessels sharing in the proceeds from the surrender of the Dutch fleet in the Vlieter Incident. On 23 November 1799 Lieutenant-General Sir James Pulteney, second in command of the expedition, was on board Swan supervising the embarkation of the British and Russian troops.
On 12 September there came in to Plymouth the Prussian galliot Vrouw Hildegarde. She had been sailing from Bordeaux to Hamburg with a cargo of brandy and wine when Swan captured her.
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