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.

In June, ''Anaconda'' took the 8-gun brig ''Mary'', sailing from [[Gibraltar]]. Later that month, ''Anaconda'' took the brig ''Harriet'', sailing from [[Buenos Aires]] to [[London]] with a cargo of hides and tallow. ''Anaconda'', deliveringdelivered her''Harriet'' to [[New Bedford]].{{sfnp|Maclay|2004|pp=259-260}} Some records indicate that ''Harriet'' may have been armed with 12 guns, and that Shaler converted one of the brigs to a [[cartel (ship)|cartel]]. In all, his prizes were worth $250,000.{{sfnp|Emmons|1853|p=170}} However, in early July Captain Shaler took refuge in Ocracoke Inlet.{{sfnp|Maclay|2004|pp=259-260}}

''Anaconda'' refitted at [[City of Halifax|Halifax]] and Westphal received a crew of 60 men, most of whom were the dregs of the fleet, offered by their captains when Admiral [[John Borlase Warren]] asked for drafts.<ref name={{sfnp|Marshall>Marshall (|1832), Vol. 3, Part 2, |pp.=195-8.</ref>}} Her first task was to escort a convoy of twelve merchant vessels from there to the [[West Indies]]. While doing so she fought off an attack by two large American privateers. One of the privateers surrendered after losing her jib-boom and fore-top-mast but escaped when ''Anaconda'' lost her own fore-top-mast chasing after the second privateer. Warren then transferred ''Anaconda'' to the [[Jamaica Station (Royal Navy)|Jamaica station]].<ref name={{sfnp|Marshall/>|1832|pp=195-8}}

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&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=snippet&q=Nicoll&f=false |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. |deadurlurl-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 |df= }}</ref>

The defeat at Fort Bowyer led the British to turn their attention to an attack on New Orleans. In the run-up to battle, Captain [[Nicholas Lockyer (naval captain)|Nicholas Lockyer]] captured an American flotilla, consisting primarily of five [[gunboats]], in the [[Battle of Lake Borgne]].<ref name=LG16991>{{London Gazette|pages=446–449|issue=16991|date=9 March 1815}}</ref> ''Anaconda'' did not contribute her boats and crew to the battle, but evacuated the 77 men who had been wounded there.<ref name={{sfnp|Marshall/>|1832|pp=195-8}}

During Sir [[Alexander Cochrane]]'s expedition against New Orleans in December, Westphal took ''Anaconda'' with great difficulty over shoals into [[Lake Borgne]]. ''Anaconda'', gun-vessels and hired craft then moved the advance guard up the bayou in preparation for the [[Battle of New Orleans|New Orleans]].<ref name=LG16991/> Cochrane had ordered Westphal to lighten ''Anaconda'' and to get her into Lake Borgne. By forcing ''Anaconda'' over a bank five miles wide that was only eight feet under water, Westphal was able to get her into position 20 miles ahead of the other British warships where she could protect the boats bringing up supplies and troops. Captain [[Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet|Thomas Hardy]] of {{HMS|Ramillies|1785|2}} wrote in a letter that ''Anaconda{{'}}''s protection surely saved many of the boats from capture by the Americans.<ref name={{sfnp|Marshall/>|1832|pp=195-8}}

Westphal later landed with the greater part of ''Anaconda{{'}}''s crew, who then fought in the naval brigade under Captain [[Sir Edward Troubridge, 2nd Baronet|Edward Troubridge]]. At the [[Battle of New Orleans|battle]] they helped man the batteries.<ref name={{sfnp|Marshall/>|1832|pp=195-8}}

In February 1815, ''Anaconda'', and the schooner [[{{HMS |Shelburne (|1813)|''Shelburne'']]2}} (under Westphal's orders), cruised off the [[Florida]] coast north of [[Havana]].<ref name={{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>