HMS Badger (1777)

Badger was one of a number of ships purchased for service on the North America and West Indies Station during the American Revolutionary War. She was previously an American merchant vessel, Defence, and had been purchased in Jamaica in November 1777 for £1,540.{{Cite book|last=Winfield |title=British Warships of the Age of Sail |pages=320}} She replaced an earlier HMS Badger that had been bought the previous year but condemned as unfit for service in 1777. Little is known about her specifications, but she probably carried 12 guns, and was apparently 'capable of carrying 16 guns'.

Her first commander was Commander (listed as Lieutenant, February, 1778){{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 European THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 American: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=7 November 2023}} Michael John Everett, who brought with him the crew of the earlier Badger. On 28 January, 1778 she captured schooner "Liberty" off Turks Island.{{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=24 October 2023}} On 12 February she captured schooner "Tryall" 29 Leagues off Turks Island.{{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 European THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 American: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=7 November 2023}} On 28 March her barge captured sloop "Washington" off Monti Christi.{{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=2 February 2024}} On 1 April, 1778 she captured brig Dartmouth.{{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=6 February 2024}} On 9 April 1778 she pursued and captured a privateer that ran aground 5 miles from Jean Rabel Bay, Saint-Domingue.{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/publications/naval-documents-of-the-american-revolution/NavalDocumentsOfTheAmericanRevVol12_8JUN2015.pdf |title=NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution |publisher=history.navy.mil |access-date=21 September 2021}} On 8 December 1778 the commander of the North America and West Indies Station, Sir Peter Parker, transferred a young lieutenant named Horatio Nelson, who had previously been serving aboard his flagship {{HMS|Bristol|1775|6}}, to the command of Badger,{{Cite book|last=Sugden |title=Nelson – A Dream of Glory |pages=131}} and moved Everett to command the newly captured and commissioned 18-gun sloop {{HMS|Port Royal|1778|2}}. Badger was Nelson's first experience of command of one of the Royal Navy's commissioned warships, and he duly took command in January 1779.Nelson (1844), p. 6. Nelson spent half of 1779 cruising the Caribbean, ranging off the Spanish colonies in Central America in search of prizes.{{Cite book|last=Sugden |title=Nelson – A Dream of Glory |pages=135}} Nelson did not have much success, but on 11 June 1779 Parker promoted Nelson to post captain and gave him the command of the 28-gun frigate {{HMS|Hinchinbroke|1779|6}}.{{Cite book|last=Sugden |title=Nelson – A Dream of Glory |pages=142}} On 20 June Nelson duly handed Badger over to Commander Cuthbert Collingwood.

Collingwood commanded Badger until early 1780, and in March that year he was succeeded by Commander Samuel Walker. Walker was replaced in September that year by Commander Richard Storey, who was commander in an acting capacity. It had been planned that Commander Donald Sutherland would take over command, but he had died on 9 September, after only two days in command. In December 1780 Commander James Cornwallis took over. Badger was temporarily under Lieutenant William Sykes between January 1781 and possibly March 1782. Badger was paid off at Jamaica in May 1782, and was sold there in June the following year for £2,050.

{{shipwreck list item

|ship=Dolphin

|flag={{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain|white}} Royal Navy

|desc=The sloop, captured 218 miles off Sandy Hook by HMS Experiment ({{navy|Kingdom of Great Britain}}), was wrecked on Long Island between 11 February and 9 March.{{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 European THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 American: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=7 November 2023}}

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{Cite book|author=Sugden, John|title=Nelson – A Dream of Glory|location=London|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=2004|isbn=0-224-06097-X}}
• Nelson, Viscount Horatio Nelson (1845) The dispatches and letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson: with notes, Volume 1. (H. Colburn).
• Winfield, Rif, British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, Seaforth, 2007, {{ISBN|1-86176-295-X}}

• {{Commons category-inline|HMS Badger (ship, 1777)}}

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Category:Brigs of the Royal Navy

Category:1770s ships