HMS Gibraltar Prize

History
France
NameGlaneur[1]
BuilderNantes
CapturedDecember 1756[2]
Great Britain
NameHMS Gibraltar Prize
AcquiredFebruary 1757[1]
Decommissioned22 January 1761[1]
FateSold 22 January 1761[1]
General characteristics
Tons burthen11772⁄94 (bm)[2]
Length63 ft 10 in (19.5 m) (overall); 59 ft 1 in (18.01 m) (keel)[2]
Beam18 ft 7+1⁄2 in (5.7 m)[2]
Depth of hold8 ft 2 in (2.5 m)[2]
Complement
Armament
  • 16 guns under French service[3]
  • 14, later 12 × 6-pounder guns + 12 × 1⁄2-pounder swivels under British service[2][6]
  • 8 guns on 8 May 1757[7]

HMS Gibraltar Prize, also known as HMS Gibraltar's Prize, was a sloop of the Royal Navy. She began life as the French privateer schooner Glaneur, but HMS Gibraltar captured her on 10 December 1756,[2] or February or March 1757; prize money was paid on 3 January 1758.[8] The Admiralty purchased her on 12 February 1757 for £795 9s and the Royal Navy took her into service under the name Gibraltar's Prize.[9] The Admiralty sold her in 1761.

Service

Gibraltar's Prize was commissioned the day after her purchase. She then was reclassified in March 1757 as an unrated tender.[2]

On 16 April 1757, she sailed to North America from the Cove of Cork along with a fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Francis Holburne, for Halifax in Canada. There she was left behind with several other ships – the Windsor, the Arc-En-Ciel, the Nightingale, the Speedwell and the bomb-vessel Grenado – to defend the city of Halifax, as a fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Holburne left to reconnoitre Louisbourg. She had 12 guns at the time.[6]

Her captain at the time was John Stott, who was previously master of HMS Grafton. He was promoted to lieutenant and given command of Gibraltar Prize, and then further promoted to commander on 14 June 1757, replacing the previous commander, Lieutenant Schomberg.[6][10][11]

By January 1758, the command had changed again: this time, to Lieutenant Robert Kerr, previously of HMS Princess Amelia.[12]

Fate

Gibraltar Prize was decommissioned and sold on 22 January 1761 at Sheerness for £135.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Warlow, Ben (2010). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Casemate Publishers. p. 159. ISBN 9781935149071.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781844157006.
  3. ^ a b Beatston, Robert (1790). Naval and military memoirs of Great Britain: from the year 1727, to the present time. J. Strachan of No. 67, Stand, and P. Hill, Edinburgh. p. 102.
  4. ^ Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology. C Roworth, Bell Yard, Fleet Street. p. 29.
  5. ^ The British Colonial Library. 1837. p. 80.
  6. ^ a b c Beatston, Robert (1790). Appendix to Naval and military memoirs of Great Britain: from the year 1727, to the present time. J. Strachan of No. 67, Stand, and P. Hill, Edinburgh. p. 75.
  7. ^ Fitzgerald, John (1783). The Cork remembrancer: being an historical register containing a chronological account of all the remarkable battles, sieges, conspiracies (et al.) that have happened since the creation to the present year, 1783, particularly for England and Ireland, and more especially for the City of Cork. Cork: J Sullivan, near the Exchange. p. 170.
  8. ^ "No. 10063". The London Gazette. 20 December 1760. p. 5.
  9. ^ "NMM, vessel ID 367511" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol i. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  10. ^ Charnock, John (1798). Biographia navalis; or, Impartial memoirs of the lives and characters of officers of the navy of Great Britain from the year 1660 to the present time. R Faulder, Bond Street. p. 342.
  11. ^ "Extract of a Letter from Portsmouth". The London Chronicle. 22 February 1757. pp. 186, Vol. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  12. ^ Martin, Benjamin (1759). Miscellaneous correspondence, containing a variety of subjects, relative to natural and civil history, geography, mathematics, poetry, memoirs of monthly occurrences, catalogues of new books... W. Owen, and the author. p. 730.

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