View source for HMS Pike (1804)

{{other ships|HMS Pike}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|Royal Navy Ensign]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Pike''
|Ship ordered=23 June 1803
|Ship builder=Goodrich & Co. (prime contractor), [[Bermuda]]
|Ship laid down=1803
|Ship launched=1804
|Ship acquired=
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|Ship renamed=
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|Ship captured=*18 March 1807 by French privateer ''Marat''
*Recaptured September 1808
|Ship fate=Unknown
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=359}}
|Ship class=
|Ship type=[[Ballahoo class schooner|''Ballahoo''-class schooner]]
|Ship tons burthen=70 {{small|{{fraction|41|94}}}} ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|Ship length=*{{convert|55|ft|2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (overall)
*{{convert|40|ft|10+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (keel)
|Ship beam={{convert|18|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught=
|Ship hold depth={{convert|9|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship sail plan=Schooner
|Ship complement=20
|Ship armament= 4 × 12-pounder [[carronade]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Pike''''' was a [[Royal Navy]] [[Ballahoo class schooner|''Ballahoo''-class schooner]] of four 12-pounder [[carronade]]s and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in [[Bermuda]], and she was launched in 1804. She captured one 10-gun enemy vessel before being herself captured, and recaptured.

==Service==
''Pike'' was commissioned in Jamaica in June 1804 under Lieutenant John Nichols. Lieutenant Duncan Macdonald replaced him in October. In 1806 Lieutenant C. Spence took command, and then Lieutenant John Otley replaced him in August.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=359}}

On 25 August Rear-Admiral [[James Richard Dacres (1749–1810)|Dacres]] formed a small squadron under the command of Captain George Le Geyt of the 18-gun [[HMS Stork (1796)|''Stork'']].<ref name=LG15978>{{London Gazette|issue=15978|pages=1536–1537|date=25 November 1806}}</ref> The other three vessels in the squadron were the 14-gun [[HMS Superieure (1803)|''Superieure'']], the 10 or 12-gun schooner [[HMS Flying Fish (1806)|''Flying Fish'']], and ''Pike''. Dacres ordered Le Geyt to bring out or destroy privateers based at [[Batabanó, Cuba|Batabano]] in Cuba.<ref name=LG15978/>

On 30 August the squadron approached the [[Isle of Pines (Cuba)|Isle of Pines]]. There they sighted a Spanish schooner at anchor. Le Geyt reinforced ''Pike'' with a lieutenant and eight seamen and sent her to engage the Spanish vessel. After a short chase and two broadsides from ''Pike{{'}}''s 12-pounder carronades, the Spaniard surrendered. She turned out to be a ''guarda costa'' of 10 guns, with a crew of 45 men. ''Pike'' took possession of her and took her back to the squadron.<ref name=LG15978/><ref>James 1837), Vol. 4, 258-60.</ref>

Le Geyt then discovered that ''Stork'' drew too much water to permit her to enter the [[Gulf of Batabanó]]. He therefore transferred to the other three vessels his boats and men and sent in the cutting-out expedition under the command of Commander Edward Rushworth of ''Superieure''.<ref name=LG15978/>

The landing party consisted of 63 officers and men, none of whom were from ''Pike''. Ten men from ''Flying Fish'' remained to guard the party's boats.<ref name=LG15978/> The party landed on 2 September and crossed some two miles of marshy ground to storm a fort at Batabano. On their way they had to break through an ambush of enemy soldiers and militia. In the process they killed two and wounded one badly. At the fort they captured six 18-pounder long guns, which they spiked.<ref name=LG15978/> The party then proceeded to take possession of the vessels in the bay.<ref name=LG15978/> There is some disagreement as to how many vessels they captured and took as prizes, with the total rising as high as 12. According to Rushworth's letter (an after action report), the prizes included a [[felucca]], pierced for 14 guns but only mounting one 18-pounder, a schooner pierced for 12 guns, a French 4-gun privateer, and three Spanish privateers of one gun each. The party also burnt at least six smaller coasting vessels after having removed their cargoes.<ref name=LG15978/> Total British casualties amounted to one man badly wounded.<ref name=LG15978/>

On 2 September ''Flying Fish'', ''Stork'', ''Superieure'', and ''Pike'' destroyed two privateers, names unknown, on the [[Jamaica Station (Royal Navy)|Jamaica station]]. One was a [[felucca]] of five guns.{{sfnp|Norie|1842|p=501}}

Between 1 January 1806 and 1 January 1807, ''Pike'', in company with [[HMS Shark (1794)|''Shark'']],  ''Superieure'' and ''Flying Fish''  captured a French felucca of one gun. Whether or not it was one of the above vessels is unclear.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16004|pages=245–246|date=24 February 1807}}</ref>

==Capture and recapture==
On 10 March 1807, ''Pike'', still under Otley's command, was sailing from Jamaica to [[Curaçao]] when she encountered a French schooner that fired on her but then sheered off.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|pp=118-9}} The next day another schooner approached, fired on ''Pike'', and then drew off to join the first schooner. ''Pike'' endeavored to escape, but by 17 March the larger of the two French vessels commenced to gain. At daybreak on 18 March the larger French schooner caught up with ''Pike'' off Altavella (the eastern point of the island of [[Captaincy General of Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo]]).<ref name=James>James (1837), Vol. 5, p.46.</ref> In the 45-minute engagement that followed, ''Pike'' lost one man killed and five wounded out of her crew of about 20.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|pp=118-9}} Some of her crew, who were new, left their stations during the engagement and had to be driven back to their stations. With his rigging in pieces, damage to his gaff and masts and yards, and the second French schooner approaching, Otley [[striking the colours|struck]] ''Pike{{'}}''s colours.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|pp=118-9}}{{sfnp|Gosset|1986|p=59}} The French privateer that captured ''Pike'' was either ''Impérial'',{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|pp=118-9}} or the French 16-gun privateer ''Marat'',<ref name=James/> or ''Murat''.{{sfnp|Demerliac|2003|p=338}}

The court martial board ruled that Otley could have better managed the encounter and warned him to be more circumspect in the future. It did recognize that his crew was raw.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|pp=118-9}}
 
In September 1808 the [[Cruizer class brig-sloop|''Cruizer''-class brig-sloop]] {{HMS|Moselle|1804|2}}, under Commander Alexander Gordon, recaptured ''Pike''.<ref name=James/> She was commissioned in Jamaica under the command of Lieutenant Joel Orchard.<ref name="NMM-WH-373342">{{cite web|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_iii.pdf|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110802041552/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_iii.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 August 2011|title=NMM, vessel ID 373342|work=Warship Histories, vol iii|publisher=[[National Maritime Museum]]|access-date=30 July 2011}}</ref>{{efn|While ''Pike'' was in French hands, the Royal Navy had transferred her name to {{HMS|Fleur de la Mer|1807|2}}. When the Navy recommissioned the recaptured ''Pike'', she resumed her name, and ''Fleur de la Mere'' returned to her original name.}} (Orchard had been captured in 1805 by the Spanish after his ship {{HMS|Barracouta|1804|2}}, ''Pike{{'}}''s sister ship, was wrecked.) On 6 July 1809 ''Pike'' was one of the vessels that made up the blockade of the city of [[Santo Domingo]] and she, and ''Fleur-de-Mer'', were present at its surrender.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16294|page=1420|date=2 September 1809}}</ref>{{sfnp|Marshall|1825|pp=970-1}}{{efn|In January 1826 prize money was paid for stores captured at Santo Domingo. A first-class share was worth [[£sd|£]]7 10[[shilling|s]] 11[[pence|d]]; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 2s 5d.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=7 January 1826|issue=18209|page=28}}</ref> In October 1832 there was another payment. A first-class share was worth £67 3s 5d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 1s 3d.<ref>{{London Gazette|page=2330 |issue=18986|date=19 October 1832}}</ref>}}

==Fate==
Although one source reports that ''Pike'' foundered in August 1809,{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=359}} Hepper, the most complete source of information on Royal Navy losses for the period, has no mention of this.

In 1811 ''Pike'' was under the command of Lieutenant J. Alexander.<ref name="NMM-WH-373342"/>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book | last=Demerliac | first=Alain | title=La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire : nomenclature des navires français de 1800 à 1815 | publisher=Éd. Ancre | year=2003 | isbn=2-903179-30-1 | oclc=162449062 | language=fr | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dBZGQAACAAJ}}
* {{cite book |first1=William Patrick |last1=Gosset |year=1986 |title=The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900 |publisher=Mansell |isbn=0-7201-1816-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hepper |first1=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| last = James| first = William| author-link = William James (naval historian)| year = 1837| title = The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.| publisher = R. Bentley| volume =4 & 5}}
* {{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Cumby, William Pryce|volume=2 |part=2 |page=966–972}}
* {{cite book |last=Norie|first=J. W. |year=1842 |title=The naval gazetteer, biographer and chronologist; containing a history of the late wars from&nbsp;... 1793 to&nbsp;... 1801; and from&nbsp;... 1803 to 1815, and continued, as to the biographical part to the present time |location=London |publisher=C. Wilson}}
* {{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}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=2124] Michael Phillips' ''Ships of the Old Navy'' - ''Stork'' (1796)
*[http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=2140] Michael Phillips' ''Ships of the Old Navy'' - ''Superieure'' (1803)
{{WarshipHist}}

{{Ballahoo class schooner}}
{{1809 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pike (1804)}}
[[Category:1804 ships]]
[[Category:Ballahoo-class schooners]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1809]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bermuda]]