View source for HMS Martin (1790)

{{short description|Sloop of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Martin}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Martin, (1790); Fury (1790); Serpent (1789); Rattlesnake (1791); Hound (1790) RMG J4129.jpg
|Ship caption=''Martin''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Great Britain
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Martin''
|Ship ordered=17 January 1788
|Ship builder=[[Woolwich Dockyard]]
|Ship laid down=15 July 1789
|Ship launched=8 October 1790
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=13 January 1791
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=[[Naval General Service Medal (1847)|Naval General Service Medal]] clasp "Camperdown"<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20939|page=238|date=26 January 1849}}</ref>
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Lost, presumed foundered October 1800
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=250}}
|Ship class={{sclass|Hound|sloop|0}} [[Sloop-of-war|sloop]]
|Ship tons burthen=329{{small|{{frac|4|94}}}} [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]
|Ship length=*{{convert|100|ft|8+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (overall)
*{{convert|83|ft|6+3/4|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (keel)
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|2+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=*{{convert|8|ft|01|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (laden)
*{{convert|11|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (unladen)
|Ship hold depth={{convert|12|ft|10+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship sail plan=[[Full-rigged ship]]
|Ship complement=125 (from 1794, 121)
|Ship armament=*Upper deck:16 × 6-pounder guns and 14 × {{frac|1|2}}-pounder [[swivel gun]]s
*Later:
*Upper deck:16 × 6-pounder guns
*[[Quarterdeck|QD]]:4 × 12-pounder [[carronade]]s
*[[Forecastle|Fc]]:2 × 12-pounder carronades
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Martin''''' was a 16-gun [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She served at the [[Battle of Camperdown]] in 1797 and captured two privateers before she disappeared in 1800.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Martin'' was a {{sclass|Hound|sloop|0}} [[sloop-of-war|sloop]], built to a design by [[John Henslow (Surveyor of the Navy)|John Henslow]] and ordered from [[Woolwich Dockyard]] on 17 January 1788. Master Shipwright John Nelson worked on her until August 1790, after which [[William Rule (Surveyor of the Navy)|William Rule]] completed her. She was launched on 8 October 1790 and commissioned on 13 January 1791, having cost a total of £8,732 to build, with a further £1,674 spent on fitting out.

==Career==
''Martin'''s first commander was [[George Duff]], under whom she sailed off the East coast of [[Scotland]].{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=250}} On 17 March 1792, in the [[Firth of Forth]], the [[brig]] ''Paisley'' ran into ''Hales Castle'', which sank. ''Paisley'' rescued three of ''Hales Castle{{'}}''s six crew and ''Martin'' rescued the other three.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=(untitled) |date=28 March 1792 |page=3 |issue=2266 |column=C }}</ref>

''Martin'' came under the command of Commander Richard Lane in February 1793, followed by Commander James Newman in May 1794 and then Commander Charles Garnier in August 1794.  Commander William Lobb took over ''Martin'' in April 1795, during which time she served as a Royal escort for Princess [[Caroline of Brunswick]]. [[Samuel Sutton]] received promotion to commander on 1 September 1795 and replaced Lobb.<ref name=US>''United Service Magazine'' (1832), pp.&nbsp;499–501.</ref> ''Martin'' departed Britain for the West coast of Africa on 10 December 1795, followed by a voyage to [[Jamaica]].{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=250}}

Returning to British waters, on 14 February 1797 ''Martin'' and [[HMS Espion|HMS ''Espion'']] captured the [[privateer]] ''Buonaparte'' in the [[North Sea]]. ''Buonaparte'' was armed with sixteen 6-pounder guns (eight of which she threw overboard during the chase), and one long 12-pounder gun. She had a crew of 110, of whom 82 were on board. She had sailed from Cherburg on the 1st of the month, but had captured only a sloop in ballast, which the British were able to recapture.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13980|page=157|date=14 February 1797}}</ref>{{efn|''Bonaparte'', of Dunkirk, had been commissioned in December 1796. Her first cruise took place under Jean Meulenaer, with 24 men and 10 to 15 guns, from December 1796 to January 1797, when she returned to Dunkirk. She was on her second cruise in February under an unknown captain when ''Martin'' and ''Espion'' captured her.{{sfnp|Demerliac|1999|p=215|loc=№1695}} ''Bonapart'' had captured one vessel that she sent into Dunkirk before she herself was captured.}}

While ''Martin'' was in the North Sea she also transported the Duc d'Angoulême, the future [[Charles X of France]], from [[Leith]] to [[Cuxhaven]]. On 27 June Sutton's service brought him promotion to [[post-captain]].<ref name=US/>

''Martin'' immediately came under the command of [[Charles Paget (vice-admiral)|Charles Paget]], under whom she was present at the [[Battle of Camperdown]] on 11 October 1797. There she served to repeat signals for the starboard, or weather division under Admiral [[Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan|Adam Duncan]], who was also the overall commander.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=14055|page=987|date=16 October 1797}}</ref> In 1847 the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Camperdown" to the 298 surviving claimants from the action.

In November 1797 ''Martin'' came under the command of Commander John Cleland; less than three months later, in January 1798, Commander William Renton replaced Cleland.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=250}} In August, ''Martin'' captured "Three Greenland Vessels and One Dogger".<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15268|page=698|date=17 June 1800}}</ref> ''Martin'' also shared in the capture on 24 October of the Dutch frigate [[Dutch ship Waakzaamheid|''Waakzaamheid'']].<ref name=LG15505>{{London Gazette|issue=15505|page=848|date=10 August 1802}}</ref> The primary captor was {{HMS|Sirius|1797|2}}, which took ''Waakzaamheid'' and [[HMS Wilhelmina (1798)|''Furie'']] in the [[Texel]].<ref name=LG15077>{{London Gazette|issue=15077|pages=1052–1053|date=3 November 1798}}</ref> ''Waakzaamheid'' was under the command of Senior Captain Neirrop. She was armed with twenty-four 9-pounder guns on her main deck and two 6-pounders on her forecastle. She had 100 Dutch seamen aboard her, as well as 122 French troops, and was carrying 2000 stands of arms as well as other ordnance stores.<ref name=LG15077/> ''Waakzaamheid'' put up no struggle. The sloop {{HMS|Kite|1795|2}},<ref>{{London Gazette|page=1213|issue=15533|date=16 November 1802}}</ref> and the [[hired armed vessels|hired armed]] [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]] ''Diligente'', also shared in the capture.<ref name=LG15505/>

Renton, while dining with another naval officer in [[Harwich]] in February 1799, went to an adjoining room and committed suicide with a pistol. Renton apparently "had for some time discovered the symptoms of a deranged mind".<ref>''The Monthly Magazine: Or, British Register ...'', Vol. 7 (January 1799), p.&nbsp;86.</ref>

His successor was Commander the Hon. [[Michael Sinclair (naval officer)|Michael Sinclair]] or St. Clair,{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=250}} the brother of [[Charles St. Clair, 13th Lord Sinclair|Lord Sinclair]]. Commander Sinclair and ''Martin'' then escorted convoys in the [[North Sea]] to [[Denmark]].

On 28 April 1799 ''Martin'' captured the privateer [[cutter (ship)|cutter]] [[French privateer Vengeur|''Vengeur'']] some five [[League (unit)|leagues]] off [[The Skaw]]. ''Vengeur'' was in company with a [[lugger]] and another cutter, both of which escaped. ''Vengeur'' was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 105 men under the command of Citizen Charles Louis Tack. (She may have thrown two guns overboard in the chase, and apparently only had 98 men aboard at the time of her capture.) She was out of [[Kristiansand|Christiansand]] and had taken nothing.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15130|page=427|date=4 May 1799}}</ref>

At this time ''Martin'' operated out of [[Leith]]. John Brougham, youngest brother of [[Lord Brougham]], was appointed to her as a midshipman and as did [[Charles John Napier]], the future admiral, whose father was a friend of Sinclair; ''Martin'' was Napier's first ship. Brougham left her at [[Great Yarmouth|Yarmouth]] in early 1800 and Napier transferred to [[HMS Renown (1798)|HMS ''Renown'']] in May 1800.

On 27 July ''Martin'' captured ''Hoffnung''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15555|page=141|date=1 February 1803}}</ref> Then on 8 and 9 October she captured ''Noodster'' and ''Jonge Isabella''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15566|page=269|date=12 March 1803}}</ref>

==Fate==
''Martin'' disappeared without trace and with all hands in the North Sea in October 1800. She is presumed to have foundered in heavy seas.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=96}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|title=La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 A 1799|last=Demerliac|first=Alain|year=1999|publisher=Éditions Ancre|isbn=2-906381-24-1|language=fr}}
*{{cite book|last=Hepper|first=David J.|year=1994|title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859|publisher=Jean Boudriot|location=Rotherfield|isbn=0-948864-30-3}}
* {{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=978-1-86176-246-7}} 
{{1800 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin (1790)}}
[[Category:Sloops of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sloops of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Woolwich]]
[[Category:1790 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1800]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Missing ships]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the North Sea]]