Lord Eldon (1801 ship)
| History | |
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| Name: | Lord Eldon |
| Namesake: | Lord Eldon |
| Builder: | Sunderland |
| Launched: | 1801 |
| Fate: | Damaged 1817; last listed in 1818 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: |
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| Propulsion: | Sail |
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Lord Eldon was launched at Sunderland in 1801. She was initially a London-based transport, but new owners contracted with the Admiralty. From certainly 1804 through approximately 1811 she served the British Royal Navy as a hired armed ship. During this period Spanish vessels captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Between 1812 and 1813 she underwent lengthening. In 1814 she returned to serving as a transport. She was driven ashore and damaged in 1817; she was no longer listed in 1819.
Lord Eldon appears in Lloyd's Register in 1802 with W. Dunn, master, Kave, owner, and trade: London transport. The Register of Shipping for 1804 notes that she was built in part of old materials, and that she received copper sheathing in 1804; her master is J. Shields and her owner is Sanderson, but she is now armed, and her trade is London-government service.
Lord Eldon is variously described as an "armed defense ship", a "hired armed ship", or simply "armed ship". The Navy Board usually hired the vessel complete with master and crew rather than bareboat. Contracts were for a specified time or on an open-ended monthly hire basis. The Admiralty provided a regular naval officer to be the commander. The civilian master then served as the sailing master. For purposes of prize money or salvage, hired armed vessels received the same treatment as naval vessels.
The first mention of her in readily available sources is on 29 October 1804. The London Star reported that "also arrived the hired armed ship Lord Eldon, from a cruise".
Then on 12 November 1804 Lord Eldon was under the command of Commander Francis Newcombe when eight or ten gunboats captured her off Algeciras. However, two days later HMS Eurydice and HMS Bittern recaptured her and sent her into Gibraltar. Her master and seven sailors had been wounded.
In February 1806 Newcombe took command of HMS Beagle. His replacement on Lord Eldon was Commander G.B. Whinyates.
In 1807 Commander John Bradley took command of Lord Eldon on the coast of Spain. His replacement at the end of the year was again Commander G.B. Whinyates.
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Wikipedia