HMS Swallow (1805)

Commander Alexander Milner commissioned Swallow in March 1806.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=291-2}} On 30 October 1807 Swallow was in company with {{HMS|Plover|1796|2}} some {{convert|7|league|lk=in|spell=in}} northeast of Scilly when Plover captured the French privateer lugger Bohemienne. Bohemienne was armed with two guns and had a crew of 44, 16 of whom were away as prize crews. She had sailed from Saint Malo two weeks earlier and had captured four British merchant sloops, Hope, Favorite, and two others.{{London Gazette|issue=16084|page=1471|date=7 November 1807}}

Then on 15 November Swallow captured another French two-gun privateer, Friedland, {{convert|7|or|8|league|spell=in}} south of The Lizard. Friedland had a crew of 41 men and had thrown her guns overboard during the chase. She was only a day out of Morlaix and had not captured anything.{{London Gazette|issue=16089|page=1554|date=21 November 1807}}

On 14 June 1808 Swallow captured Diana.{{London Gazette|issue=16628|page=1469|date=28 July 1812}} Some 18 months later, on 7 November 1809, Swallow sailed for the Mediterranean.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=291-2}}

Swallow was under the command of Commander John Bedford on 19 April 1810 when she captured the French privateer Général Octavy. Général Octavy was armed with 12 guns and had a crew of 50 men.{{London Gazette|issue=16392|page=1138|date=31 July 1810}}

On 14 June {{HMS|Cerberus|1794|2}} was cruising in the Mediterranean in company with {{HMS|Active|1799|2}} and Swallow. Together, the three British vessels captured three French gun-boats: Vincentina, Modanese and Elvetica (or Elvetria).{{London Gazette|page=2304|issue=16668|date=14 November 1812}}

Swallow{{'}}s next capture occurred on 7 June 1811, at which time she was under the command of Commander Edward Reynolds Sibly.{{Cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Sibly, Edward Reynolds |volume=sup |part=3 |pages=237–241}}{{Cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Cook, Samuel Edward |volume=4 |part=2|page=134 }}{{efn|At some point Bedford had lost a leg while captain of Swallow.{{sfnp|O'Byrne|1849|p=65}}}} {{HMS|Euryalus|1803|2}} and Swallow sent their boats in pursuit of a French privateer off Corsica. After a long chase the boats captured Intrepide, which had a crew of 58 and was armed with two 8-pounders.{{London Gazette|pages=1571–1572|issue=16512|date=10 August 1811}}{{efn|A first-class share of the prize money was worth £11 15s 6d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 2s {{frac|3|3|4}}d.{{London Gazette|page=1110|issue=17022|date=10 June 1815}}}}

A month and a half later, on 26 July, Swallow captured the privateer Belle Genoise off Sicily. Belle Genoise was armed with two guns and had a crew of 37 men.{{London Gazette|issue=16529|page=1969|date=8 October 1811}}

In 1812 Swallow was under E. R. Sibly's command{{London Gazette|issue=16843|page=123|date=11 January 1814}} when a British squadron consisting of the 74-gun third-rate {{HMS|America|1810|2}}, the frigate {{HMS|Curacoa|1809|2}}, and Swallow intercepted a French convoy that had left Genoa on 11 June, heading for Toulon. The convoy consisted of 14 merchant vessels, several gunboats, and most importantly, the brig-corvette {{ship|French brig|Renard|1810|2}}, of 16 guns, under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Charles Baudin, and the schooner Goéland, of 12 guns, under the command of Enseigne de vaisseau Belin. The British on 15 June drove the French to take shelter at the Île Sainte-Marguerite. The next day Swallow came close to reconnoitre, the other two British ships having to hold off because of shallow water. Although the French escorts came out when they saw Swallow becalmed, they then turned back when the winds picked up and took their convoy to Fréjus. There the French escort vessels took on board some reinforcements and then turned to engage Swallow.

A sanguine but inconclusive action ensued. Eventually, Swallow hauled off to rejoin the two larger British ships, which were coming up, while Renard and Goéland rejoined their convoy, now in the Bay of Grimaud. The action cost Swallow six men killed and 17 wounded, out of 109 men on board. Renard had a crew of 94, which had been doubled by the troops taken on at Fréjus. In all she lost 14 men killed and 28 wounded, including her captain, Lieutenant Baudin. Goéland had a crew of 113 men but her casualties are not known. She did not engage deeply in the battle, though she did exchange some fire with Swallow.{{harvp|James|1837|loc=Vol. 6, pp. 101-104}}.

Later the same month{{Cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Ussher,_Thomas |volume=1 |part=1 |page=350}} Swallow came under the temporary command of Commander Benjamin Crispin and then under that of Lieutenant George Canning (acting), in June.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=291-2}} E. R. Sibly had transferred to {{HMS|Blossom|1806|2}}, but was superseded and returned to Swallow.United Service Magazine (1842), p. 455.

On 31 August 1813, {{HMS|Imperieuse|1804|2}} and Swallow captured the French privateer Audacieuse off the Strait of Bonifacio. Audacieuse was armed with three guns and carried a crew of 40 men. She was two days out of Civitavecchia.{{London Gazette|issue=16831|page=2677|date=25 December 1813}}

Sibly and Swallow were involved in another notable action on 16 September 1813. Swallow observed a French brig and a xebec close inshore between herself and the port of D'Anzo. He sent in three boats which were able to bring out the brig Guerriere, of four guns. Guerrier was carrying 60 stands of small arms. The cutting out expedition cost Swallow two men killed and four wounded.

On 5 October Swallow joined a British squadron off D'Anzo. The squadron consisted of the 74-gun {{HMS|Edinburgh|1811|2}}, the two frigates Imperieuse and {{HMS|Resistance|1805|2}}, and the sloops {{HMS|Eclair|1807|2}}, {{HMS|Pylades|1794|2}}, and Swallow. The ships deployed against the port's defenses, Swallow engaging a tower of one gun, while a cutting out party of seamen and marines went in and brought out 29 vessels. The British suffered no casualties in the attack.{{harvp|James|1837|loc=Vol. 6, pp. 261-262}}.

Sibly received a promotion to post captain on 8 March 1814. Commander Lord Algernon Percy replaced Sibly in command of Swallow. She was then part of the squadron that captured Lerici and the fortress of Santa Maria at the end of March,{{London Gazette|issue=16897|pages=983–984|date=10 May 1814}} and Genoa on 19 April. Among the vessels captured at Genoa was the brig Renard, of fourteen 24-pounder guns and two long 9-pounder guns.{{London Gazette|issue=16896|page=980|date=9 May 1814}}{{efn|A first-class share of the prize money for Genoa was worth £538 5s {{frac|2|3|4}}d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £3 12s 4d.{{London Gazette|issue=17259|page=1344|date=14 June 1817}} In a later, second payment, a first-class share was worth £169 2s 8d, while a sixth-class share was worth £1 2s {{frac|8|1|4}}d.{{London Gazette|issue=17361|page=912|date=19 May 1818}} In a third payment, a first-class share of the prize money was worth £69 6s 1d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 9s 4d.{{London Gazette|date=18 November 1820|issue=17652|page=2153}}}} In May Captain Edwin James replaced Percy.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=291-2}}

In February 1815 the "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered Swallow for sale at Chatham.{{London Gazette|issue=16982|page=217|date=7 February 1815}} She was broken up there in November 1815.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|pp=291-2}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{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.| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PSwOAAAAQAAJ| publisher = R. Bentley}}
• {{cite book |last=O'Byrne |first=William R. |year=1849 |title=A naval biographical dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive |location=London |publisher=J. Murray |volume=1 }}
• {{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=1-86176-246-1 }}

• {{Commons category-inline|HMS Swallow (ship, 1805)}}

{{Cruizer class brig-sloop}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swallow (1805)}}

Category:1805 ships

Category:Cruizer-class brig-sloops

Category:Ships built in Dartmouth