HMS Meteor (1797)
{{short description|Brig of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Meteor|Lady Cathcart (ship)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country={{nowrap|Great Britain}} |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}} |Ship name=Lady Cathcart |Ship namesake= |Ship builder=Leith |Ship acquired= |Ship renamed= |Ship yard number= |Ship registry= |Ship fate=Sold 1797 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country={{nowrap|Great Britain}} |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}} |Ship name=GB No. 34 |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Leith |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired=March 1797 by purchase |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed=HMS Meteor |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold 1802 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country={{nowrap|United Kingdom}} |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |Ship name=Lady Cathcart |Ship namesake= |Ship owner=Various |Ship builder=Leith |Ship acquired=1802 by purchase |Ship renamed= |Ship yard number= |Ship launched= |Ship registry= |Ship fate=Last listed 1822 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=333}} |Ship type= |Ship tons burthen=153{{small|{{frac|77|94}}}}, or 161, or 165 (bm) |Ship length=*Overall: {{cvt|74|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{cvt|21|ft|8|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth={{cvt|9|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship propulsion=Sail |Ship speed= |Ship complement=50 |Ship armament=*1797:2 × 18-pounder guns + 10 × 18-pounder carronades
|Ship notes= }} |
HMS Meteor was originally the merchant ship Lady Cathcart launched at Leith in 1794. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1797, used her as a gun-brig escorting convoys in the North Sea, and sold her in 1802. She then returned to mercantile service under her original name and continued to trade along the British coast. She was last listed in 1822.
''Lady Cathcart''
Lady Cathcart entered Lloyd's Register in 1792 with R.Bruce, owner and master, and trade Leith–London.[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004281237?urlappend=%3Bseq=223 Lloyd's Register (1794), Seq.№M392.] In 1797 Lloyd's Register still carried Lady Cathcart with unchanged information.
HMS ''Meteor''
After the onset of war with France Britain's merchant fleet provided French, and later Dutch privateers with a target-rich environment. The Royal Navy needed escort vessels and a quick fix was to buy existing merchant vessels, arm and man them, and then deploy them. Between March and April the Admiralty purchased 10 brigs at Leith, Lady Cathcart among them. The Royal Navy initially designated these as GB №__, but then gave them names before they actually sailed.
The Royal Navy acquired Lady Cathcart in March 1797 at Leith and commissioned her as GB No.34 that month under the command of Lieutenant Alexander Pearson for the North Sea. She underwent fitting at Leith between 20 March and 11 July. She spent her brief naval career escorting convoys.
After the Treaty of Amiens ended the war with France, the Admiralty had Meteor come into Sheerness and paid her off.
The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered Meteor, of 154 tons, lying at Sheerness, for sale on 24 February 1802.{{London Gazette|date=20 February 1802|issue=15455|page=186}} She was sold that month.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=333}}
''Lady Cathcart''
The Register of Shipping carried Lady Cathcart, of 165 tons (bm), launched at Leith in 1794, from 1802 to 1818. On 20 August 1816 Lloyd's List reported that Lady Cathcart, of Shields, had been sailing from Dundalk to Norway when she was driven on shore and bilged near Lough Swilly.[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c2735027?urlappend=%3Bseq=363 Lloyd's List №5102.] However she returned to service and continued to trade for another six years.
| class="sortable wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade |
|---|
| 1802
| R.Bruce | R.Bruce | Government service |
| 1804
| Williamson | E. Silva | London–Coast |
| 1805
| Judd | E. Silva | London–Coast |
| 1810
| W.Osborne (or W.Osburn) | E. Silva | Cork transport |
| 1815
| W.Osborne | E.Silva | Cork transport |
| 1820
| Nochester | Captain & co. | London–Southampton |
| 1822
| Nochester | Captain & co. | London–Southampton |
Citations
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meteor (1797), HMS}}