HMS Abundance (1799)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Abundance |
| Builder | Adams, Bucklers Hard |
| Launched | 30 September 1799 |
| Acquired | June 1799 by purchase |
| Commissioned | 1800 |
| Fate | Sold 1823 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 673 (bm) |
| Length | 119 ft 2+1⁄4 in (36.3 m) (overall); 142 ft 4 in (43.4 m) (keel) |
| Beam | 32 ft 7 in (9.9 m) |
| Draught | 8 ft 10 in (2.7 m) (unladen); 12 ft 3 in (3.7 m) (laden) |
| Depth of hold | 15 ft 0 in (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Complement | 80 |
| Armament | 16 × 24-pounder carronades |
HMS Abundance was a Royal Navy transport launched and purchased in 1799. The Admiralty sold her in 1823.
Career
Abundance was a mercantile vessel that the Admiralty purchased on the stocks. She was commissioned in 1800 under William Price, Master, for the East Indies.[1] She returned to Woolwich for repairs between October and December 1802, and then returned to the East Indies.[1]
On 5 January 1803 she sailed for the Mediterranean but grounded the next day on Sconce Point, near The Needles, Isle of Wight. Morgiana and Autumn sailed to her assistance. By the 11th they had gotten her off with little damage and she then sailed for Gibraltar.[2][3]
In early 1804 Captain Lord Cochrane, in Arab, ran into Abundance, after some days earlier having run into another navy vessel, the brig Bloodhound off Boulogne. All vessels survived.[4]
On 1 May 1804 HMS Port Mahon spoke with Abundance off Port Royal, Jamaica. She and her convoy from Portsmouth were "all well".[5] Abundance returned, arriving off Gravesend on 19 August 1804.[6]
On 28 January 1806, Abundance sailed from Portsmouth with a fleet for the West Indies. By 23 March she, the storeship William, and ten of the fleet were at Barbados, having separated from the rest of the fleet shortly after their departure from Britain.[7]
In 1806 Abundance came under the command of John Fryer, Master. Then later that year Josiah Oakes, Master, took command. He would remain in command, except for a break in 1812 when W. Kirby temporarily replaced him, until 1815. On 6 November Oakes sailed Abundance for the West Indies.[8]
Abundance sailed to the Cape of Good Hope in December 1807, together with the storeship Sally, under escort by Crocodile. They arrived in March 1808 after a voyage of 12 weeks. They brought recruits for the 29th, 72nd, and 93rd regiments of foot.[9]
While under Oakes's command Abundance recaptured Sedulous on 9 February 1813.[10] Sedulous, Mills, master, had been sailing from Cephalonia to Hull when a French privateer had taken her. Sedulous reached Portsmouth on 10 February.[11]
The storeships Abundance and Dolphin left Bermuda on 7 December 1813 with a convoy under the escort of Conflict. The merchant vessel Hope left the convoy, and arrived in Liverpool on 5 January 1814[12] The Abundance and Dolphin arrived at Portsmouth on 27 and 24 January 1814 respectively.[13]
On 3 June 1815, the Abundance, in the company of the Trave and the Weser departed Portsmouth and sailed for Quebec.[14][15] The storeship Abundance arrived at Halifax on 4 September 1815.[16] It departed Bermuda on 27 September. The storeships Abundance and Coromandel were noted as present in Halifax as of 9 October 1815.[17] Both ships left Halifax on 30 October 1815, and arrived at Portsmouth on 18 and 15 November 1815 respectively.[18]
In May 1816 Abundance left Antwerp with statues and paintings that Napoleon and his officers had stolen; she then conveyed the art safely to Civita Vechia. The largest item was a statue of the Nile, and weighed 17,600 pounds. Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, Minister of State, came down from Rome on behalf of Pope Pius VII. A large state dinner followed, and the Cardinal invited all of Abundance's officers to come to Rome at the Pope's expense. The officers did so, together with the British consul, travelling in the Pope's own coach. In Rome they immediately met the Pope, with Oakes kissing the Pope's hand three times, and then spent several days being shown the sights, before returning to their vessel.[19] Abundance arrived at Portsmouth on 6 October with 60 cases of statuary and other gifts from the Pope.[20] The Prince Regent, later George IV, wrote the Pope a letter of thanks.[21]
The Abundance returned from the mediterranean, in the company of HMS Queen Charlotte (1810) after reaching the coast of Algiers. After stopping at Plymouth on 1 October, she then arrived at Portsmouth on 6 October, departing for Chatham on 11 October, stopping off at Deal on 13 October 1816.[22][23]
Later in October the Admiralty delivered Abundance to the Committee for Distressed Seamen as an accommodation ship. However, between August 1818 and March 1819, she underwent modifications for service as a storeship. She then sailed to Saint Helena.[1] At the time she was under the command of Lieutenant Robert Campbell.
Abundance was at Saint Helena when Napoleon died. She then sailed for Britain on 21 June 1821 and was laid up at Deptford in August.[1]
Fate
The Admiralty put Abundance up for sale at Deptford in May 1823.[24][25] She was sold on the 22nd to Mr. Levy for £2,600.[1]
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Winfield (2008), p. 397.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4315. 18 January 1803. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 9, p.79.
- ^ Vale (2004), p.37
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4464. 22 June 1804. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. 21 August 1804. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2026 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4048. 29 April 1806. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "NMM, vessel ID 379276" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol iv. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ Boyden (2001), p.29.
- ^ "No. 16715". The London Gazette. 27 March 1813. p. 639.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4745. 12 February 1813. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. 29 July 1811. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
The Hope, Miller...sailed from Bermuda 7th [December 1813] in company... with the Dolphin and Abundance Store Ships, under Convoy of [HMS] Conflict
- ^ "London". Caledonian Mercury. 29 January 1814. p. 2. Retrieved 29 May 2013 – via British Newspaper Archive.
[on 27 January 1814] His Majesty's store-ship Abundance, Captain Oake, arrived at Portsmouth from Bermuda. She sailed 46 days since, in company with the Conflict, Captain Barker, Dolphin store ship, and 14 sail of merchantmen.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4977. 6 June 1815. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ "Naval Register". Globe. London. 22 August 1815. p. 3. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
The Calliope... brings an account of the arrival [in July] of his Majesty's ships Dictator, Trave, Weser, Thames, and Abundance, at Quebec, atter a long passage of 56 days from Spithead. These Ships would wait the arrival df the artificers, seamen, and marines, expected from the Lakes in Upper Canada; but, as their journey down the country would occupy a space of nearly two months, their arrival home cannot be expected for some time.
- ^ "Postscript". Royal Gazette of Jamaica. 21 October 1815. p. 19. Retrieved 5 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
On the 4th of September arrived His Majesty's storeship Abundance [at Halifax]
- ^ "Port News". Exeter Flying Post. 2 November 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 31 May 2013 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Left lying at Halifax [on 9 October 1815] his Majesty's ships Centurion (50), Akbar (50), Cydnus (38), Arab (18), Rolla (10), Coromandel and Abundance store ships.
- ^ "The Navy". Flindell's Western Luminary. 28 November 1815. p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
On Saturday [18 November 1815] his Majesty's store-ship Abundance, Mr. Josiah Oake, commander, arrived at Portsmouth from Halifax, in 19 days. She sailed in company with the Coromandel, which came in on Wednesday [15 November 1815].
- ^ The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year, Vol. 58, pp.88-89.
- ^ Edinburgh Annual Register, Vol. 9, p.84. 'His Majesty’s store-ship Abundance, Mr. Josiah Oake, Commander, which conveyed the Works of Art, restored by the Allies to the Pope, from Antwerp to Civita Vecchia, arrived from thence Portsmouth on Sunday [6 October 1816]'
- ^ The Letters of King George Iv 1812-1830, pp.181-2.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5115. 8 October 1816. p. 1. Retrieved 12 December 2016 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5117. 15 October 1816. p. 2. Retrieved 12 December 2016 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ "No. 17923". The London Gazette. 17 May 1823. p. 797.
- ^ P. Benyon. "HMS Abundance". Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and a few of their movements. Retrieved 7 April 2013 – via rootsweb.com.
References
- Boyden, Peter B. (2001) The British Army in Cape Colony: soldiers' letters and diaries, 1806-58. (Society for Army Historical Research - Cape of Good Hope, South Africa).
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
- O'Byrne, William R. (1849). 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. Vol. 1. London: J. Murray.
- Vale, Brian (2004). The Audacious Admiral Cochrane. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-986-7.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1861762467.
- The Naval Chronicle, vol. 9, London: Joyce Gold, 1803
This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.