HMS Anaconda (1813): Difference between revisions

|Ship country=[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UKUnited Kingdom]]

'''HMS ''Anaconda''''' was an 18-gun [[brig-sloop]] of the [[Royal Navy]] during the [[War of 1812]]. She was cruising as an American [[privateer]] until sailors from {{HMS| Sceptre|1802|6}} captured her in 1813. She served briefly in the Royal Navy during the later stages of the [[War of 1812]], especially at the [[Battle of New Orleans]], before being sold in Jamaica in 1815.

On 11 (or 12) July 1813, Lieutenant [[George Augustus Westphal|George Westphal]], [[firstFirst lieutenant]] of {{HMS|Sceptre|1802|2}}, led a group of boats into [[Ocracoke Inlet]] during Rear -Admiral Sir [[George Cockburn]]'s campaign against [[PortsmouthAmphibious Island, North Carolinawarfare|Portsmouthamphibious]] and [[Ocracoke Islandraid|attack on the port of Ocracoke]] in, [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16770|pages=1746–1747|date=4 September 1813}}</ref> Their targets were ''Anaconda'' and a second privateer, the 13-gun schooner ''Atlas'' under Captain David Mafitt, as well as a revenue cutter. As the British boats approached, the Americans opened fire. Westphal's division, covered by rockets, (as directed by a Captain Russell and overseen by Lieutenant [[John Harvey Stevens|John Stevens]]{{sfnp|Nicolas|1845|p=247}}) attacked and captured both privateers.{{sfnp|Allen|1852|p=433}} However, the revenue cutter escaped up the [[Neuse River|Neuse]] to [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]], where she gave warning of the British forcesattack, permitting the preparation of defences that forestalled the Royal Navy from any further advance. Captain Shaler escaped with his crew. Both privateers were condemned at [[City of Halifax|Halifax]] and the British took them into service, ''Anaconda'' under her name, and ''Atlas'' as [[{{HMS |St Lawrence (|1813)|HMS ''St Lawrence'']]2}}. ''Anaconda'' was purchasedsold in September for [[£sd|£]]3,879 2[[shilling|s]] 2[[pence|d]] and commissioned under Westphal, her captor, Commander George Westphal.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=322-3}}

In March 1814, ''Anaconda'' was stationed off the [[Mississippi delta]] under the orders of Capt. Clement Milward of {{HMS|Herald|1806|6}}. Arsene Latour mistakenly named ''Anaconda'' as the fourth vessel present during the Battle of [[Fort Bowyer]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Niles' National Register, volume 7 |date=22 October 1814 | page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wVA8AAAAIAAJ&q=Nicoll |quote=Letter from Jackson to the US Secretary of War dated 17 September 1814: 'The ship, which was destroyed, was the Hermes...the brig so considerably damaged is the Sophie..The other ship was the Carron..the other brig's name unknown.'}}</ref><ref>James, p345, in mentioning the many inaccuracies of Latour's book in relation to the failed attack on Fort Bowyer does refer to Latour 'misnaming one vessel'.</ref> and this error has persisted.{{sfnp|Lossing|1869|loc=Chap. 42}} At the time of the battle, ''Anaconda{{'}}''s log places her in the [[Bay of Campeche]].<ref name="AnacondaLog">{{cite web |url=http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Attack_on_Fort_Bowyer_September_1814 |title=Attack on Fort Bowyer September 1814 |accessdate=16 February 2013 |quote=Transcripts from the logs of HMS Anaconda, HMS Childers and HMS Sophie for 15 September 1814. |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://archive.istoday/20121223172554/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Attack_on_Fort_Bowyer_September_1814 |archivedate=23 December 2012 }}</ref>

In February 1815, ''Anaconda'', and the schooner [[{{HMS |Shelburne (|1813)|''Shelburne'']]2}} (under Westphal's orders), cruised off the [[Florida]] coast north of [[Havana]].{{sfnp|Marshall|1832|pp=195-8}}

''Anaconda'' was paid off in April 1815. She underwent a survey at Jamaica that found that she had sustained too much damage in the New Orleans campaign to merit retention in service.<ref name={{sfnp|Marshall/>|1832|pp=195-8}} ''Anaconda'' was condemned and then sold on 5 May 1815.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=322-3}} Westphal returned to Britain in July as a passenger aboard {{HMS|Moselle|1804|2}}.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Westphal, George Augustus|volume=60|page=380}}</ref>

*James, William (1818) ''A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of the Late War Between Great Britain and the United States of America''. (London, Printed for the Author). {{ISBN|0-665-35743-50665357435}}.

*{{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Westphal, George Augustus |volume=3 |part=2 |pagepages=195–198}}

* {{cite book |first1=Rif |last1=Winfield |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008 |isbn=978-1-86176-246-79781861762467}}