History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Sealark
Ordered11 December 1805
BuilderWilliam Wheaton, Brixham
Laid downFebruary 1806
Launched1 August 1806
FateFoundered 18 June 1809
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeCuckoo-class schooner
Tonnage75 68⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 56 ft 4 in (17.2 m) (overall)
  • 42 ft 4+1⁄4 in (12.9 m) (keel)
Beam18 ft 4 in (5.6 m)
Draught
  • Unladen: 3 ft 10 in (1.2 m)
  • Laden: 7 ft 8 in (2.3 m)
Depth of hold8 ft 6 in (2.6 m)
Sail planSchooner
Complement20
Armament4 × 12-pounder carronades

HMS Sealark was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. She was built by William Wheaton at Brixham and launched in 1806.[1] Like many of her class and the related Ballahoo-class schooners, she succumbed to the perils of the sea relatively early in her career.

Service

She was commissioned in October 1806 under Lieutenant Thomas Banks for the North Sea. Sealark was at the surrender of the Danish Fleet after the Battle of Copenhagen on 7 September. The prize money amounted to £3 8s for an ordinary seaman, or slightly over two months wages.[2] In 1809 she came under the command of Lieutenant James Procter.[1]

Fate

On 18 June 1809 she was sailing in company with Blake in the North Sea.[3] A heavy sea swamped her and she sank immediately. Only one member of her crew survived.[4] On 29 June 1809 The Times printed the following: "The Sealark schooner has been upset on the coast of Holland and all hands on board, excepting one man, unfortunately perished."[5]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Winfield (2008), p.361.
  2. ↑ "No. 16275". The London Gazette. 11 July 1809. p. 1103.
  3. ↑ Gossett (1986), p.72.
  4. ↑ Hepper (1994), p.129.
  5. ↑ Grocott (1997), p.279.

References

  • Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
  • Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
Shipwrecks of the revolutionary & Napoleonic eras (Chatham). ISBN 1-86176-030-2
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