History | |
---|---|
France | |
Name | Griffon |
Namesake | Griffon |
Ordered | 30 April 1804 |
Builder | Rochefort (Constructeurs: Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne-Sérigny, then Pierre Rolland)[1] |
Laid down | 5 April 1805 |
Launched | 2 June 1806 |
Completed | August 1806 |
Captured | June 1808 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Griffon |
Acquired | June 1808 by capture |
Honours and awards | Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Griffon 27 March 1812"[2] |
Fate | Sold 1819 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | Griffon, or Griffin |
Owner | Hills & Co. |
Acquired | 1819 by purchase |
Fate | Returned from whaling in 1850; no further mention |
General characteristics [3] | |
Class and type | Palinure-class brig |
Tons burthen | 345,[4] or 349, or 368,[a] (bm) |
Length |
|
Beam | 29 ft 4 in (8.9 m) |
Depth of hold | 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m) |
Sail plan | Brig |
Complement |
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Armament |
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The French brig Griffon, was a Pallinure-class brig launched in 1806. After HMS Bacchante captured Griffon in 1808, the Royal Navy took her into service. Griffon participated in one action that resulted in her crew being awarded the Naval General Service Medal. Two of her officers were subject to notable courts martial, one for murder and one for smuggling, with the murderer being hanged and the smuggler dismissed the Navy. The Navy sold Griffon in 1819 to Hills & Co., who proceeded to use her as a London-based whaler. She sailed to the South Seas fishery under some under different masters. Hill & Co. then sold her to Wilson & Co. who employed her on one last whaling voyage that ended in 1850.
From 17 March to 4 November 1806, Griffon, under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Jacques Gautier, was at Rochefort and the Bay of Aiguillon.[5] Then she served in the roads of the Ile d'Aix between March and August 1807.[6] Finally, in early 1808 she carried troops from Rochefort to Martinique.[7]
On the way Griffon encountered one or more British frigates. The frigate may have been Acasta, and according to the same report, Griffon was in company with the French brigs Palinure and Pilade. On 17 March Griffon took refuge at Marin, Martinique. Palinure and Pilade sailed on to the roads at Trinité.[8][9]
On 27 March 1808 the boats of Ulysses, Castor, Hippomenes and Morne Fortunee attempted to cut out Griffon from Marin. They succeeded in capturing a battery but Griffon's fire drove them back empty handed, and with heavy casualties.[10] Later, Griffon continued on to Fort-de-France.
On 11 May 1808 Bacchante captured Griffon off Cape Antonio. Bacchante pursued Griffon for almost seven hours, and fought her for a half an hour. Griffon only struck when she found herself crowded some 100 metres from the breakers with Bacchante only some 200 meters from her. Griffon was still under Gautier's command. In the engagement Griffon had five men wounded, while Bacchante suffered no casualties.[11]
Griffon, of 16 guns and 120 men, had sailed from Rochefort to Martinique, and was returning to France via Pensacola. Bacchante sent her into Jamaica.[12]
Lloyd's Register (LR) for 1819 showed a Griffon, French-built sloop, 9 [sic] years old, and 345 tons (bm), with owner Hills & Co.;[4] later, the entry gave her burthen as 349 tons. This vessel continued in commercial service for Hills & Co. for some 27 years. The last year with an entry for this vessel was 1846, and that entry was without a trade route. A database on whaling shows that Griffin was a whaler and that she returned from her last voyage in 1850.
Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1819 | C. Worth | Hills & Co. | London & South Seas | Left Britain for Peru on 10 September 1819[28] |
1820 | C. Worth | Hills & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1821 | C. Worth | Hills & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1822 | C. Worth | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | Returned to Britain on 23 August 1822 with 500 casks of whale oil, plus baleen[28] |
1823 | Garbutt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | Left Britain for Timor and "The Japans" on 1 October 1822 |
1824 | Garbutt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1825 | Garbutt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | Returned to Britain on 3 October 1825 with 520 casks of whale oil[28] |
1826 | Garbett | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | Rampant misprinting in Lloyd's Register; legible entry in Register of Shipping Left Britain on 1 April 1826 with Gibson, master[28] |
1827 | Garbutt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1828 | Garbutt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | Returned to Britain on 20 September 1828 with 520 casks, plus tanks[28] |
1829 | Garbutt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | Left Britain on 3 January 1829 for the Seychelles with Nesbitt, master; later Wright[28] |
1830 | Nesbitt | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1831 | Nesbitt | Hill & Co., or A & J Hill; Hill, Boulcott & Co. | London & South Seas | Returned to Britain on 4 May 1831 with 530 casks On 14 August 1831 Captain Wright sailed Griffin for the Seychelles[28] |
1832 | Wright | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | On 12 February 1832 she sailed from St Helena, bound for London and having come from the Seychelles[29] |
1833 | Wright | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | Griffin was reported to have been at Praslin, in the Seychelles, on 16 July 1833 with 1900 barrels. |
1834 | P. Wright | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | Griffin returned from the Seychelles in June with 162 tons of oil. On 17 October 1834 W. Daleney (or Delaney), sailed Griffin to New Guinea[28] |
1835 | W. Debrey | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | |
1836 | W. Debrey | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | |
1837 | W. Debrey | Hills & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1838 | W. Debrey | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | Griffin returned to Britain on 21 May 1838 with 580 casks of oil[28] |
1839 | W. Debrey | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | On 18 July 1839 William E. Parsons sailed for Timor[28] |
1840 | Parsons | A & J Hill | London & South Seas | |
1841 | Parsons | Hills & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1842 | Parsons | Hills & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1843 | Parsons | Hill, Boulcott & Co. | London & South Seas | Parsons and Griffin returned to Britain on 27 February 1843 with 180 casks of oil and one cask of ambergris On 25 July 1843 Griffin sailed for Timor again[28] |
1844 | Parsons | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1845 | Parsons | Hill & Co. | London & South Seas | |
1846 | Parsons | Hill & Co. | ||
1847 | John Jarman | Wilson & Co. | No further entries in Lloyd's Register On 23 March 1847 Griffin returned to Britain with 130 tons of whale oil On 14 August 1847[28] | |
1850 | On 4 November 1850 Jarman and Griffin returned to Britain with 320 casks of oil[28] |