HMS Pictou (1814)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Pictou
Namesake:	Pictou, Nova Scotia
Builder:	Adam and Noah Brown, New York[1]
Launched:	1812
Acquired:	April 1813, by capture
Fate:	Sold August 1818
General characteristics [2]
Tons burthen:	299 (bm)
Length:	101 ft 5 in (30.9 m) (overall) 65 ft 6 ^1⁄2 in (20.0 m)
Beam:	25 ft 7 ^1⁄8 in (7.8 m)
Depth of hold:	10 ft 0 ^1⁄2 in (3.1 m)
Armament:	10 × 12-pounder carronades 6 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Pictou was the American letter of marque schooner Zebra that the Royal Navy captured in 1813. The Admiralty purchased her in 1814 and she served on the North America station during the War of 1812 before the navy sold her in 1818.

Capture

On 20 April 1813 the British frigates Pyramus and Belle Poule captured Zebra off the west coast of France as Zebra was sailing from Bordeaux to New York. At the time the British frigate Andromache was in sight.^[3] Zebra carried ten guns and a crew of 38 men under the command of Captain L. Bourne.^[4]

Career

By 26 July 1814, Pictou appeared on a list of ships on the North American station, assigned to the Halifax to Nantucket sector.^[5]

In August, Pictou took part in an expedition up the Penobscot River in Maine. The first ships to go were Sylph, Dragon, Endymion, Bacchante, Peruvian, as well as some transports. Bulwark, Tenedos, Rifleman, and Pictou joined on the 31st. On the evening of 31 August, Sylph, Peruvian, and the transport Harmony, accompanied by a boat from Dragon, embarked marines, foot soldiers and a detachment from the Royal Artillery, to move up the Penobscot under the command of Captain Robert Barrie of Dragon.^[6] The objective was the American frigate Adams, of twenty-six 18-pounder guns, which had taken refuge some 27 miles up stream at Hampden, Maine. Here Adams had landed her guns and fortified a position on the bank with fifteen 18-pounders commanding the river. Moving up the river took two days, but eventually, after the Battle of Hampden, the British were able to capture the American defenders at Bangor, though not until after the Americans had burnt Adams. The British also captured 11 other ships and destroyed six. The British lost only one man killed, a sailor from Dragon, and had several soldiers wounded.^[7]

On 8 September, Bacchante, Rifleman, Tenedos, and Pictou captured the American schooner Fox at Machias, Maine. The British took the opportunity to confiscate a quantity of meat that they loaded on to Fox before they sent her to Saint John, New Brunswick.^[8]

On 20 January 1815, Rear Admiral Sir Henry Hotham sent Pictou to Britain with the dispatches announcing the capture of the USS President on 15 January.^{[Note 1]} Pictou's captain at the time was Lieutenant Charles Hare.^{[10][Note 2]}

The navy reconditioned Pictou at Portsmouth between February and April 1815. Hare commissioned Pictou in June 1815.^[2] Lieutenant James Morgan replaced Hare in September 1815.^[2]

Fate

The navy listed the schooner Picton, of 298 tons (bm), for sale at Plymouth on 11 June 1818.^[12] The navy sold Pictou on 13 August 1818 to a Mr. Hughes.^[2]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. In the announcement in the London Gazette, Hotham is shown as giving Pictou's name as Picton.^[9] This was a common mistake but there is no ambiguity or confusion as the Royal Navy did not use the name Picton until the 20th Century. The mistake may have originated in the town of Pictou being relatively unknown, whilst Thomas Picton was a noted British general then serving in the Peninsular campaign.
2. Hare may have commanded her in 1814 as well after he left Bream in February 1814. The testimonials in his monograph are ambiguous.^[11]

Citations

1. Heidler & Heidler (2004), p.68.
2. Winfield (2008), p. 369.
3. The London Gazette: no. 16724. p. 833. 27 April 1813.
4. Emmons (1853), p.196.
5. Arthur (2011), p.225.
6. The London Gazette: no. 16944. pp. 2029–2033. 9 October 1814.
7. The Anglo-American Magazine, (Toronto: Maclear), Vol. 5, pp.418-9.
8. Hannings (2012), p.247.
9. The London Gazette: no. 16985. p. 281. 18 February 1815.
10. Hare (1848), p.18.
11. Hare (1848).
12. The London Gazette: no. 17363. pp. 956–957. 26 May 1818.

References

• Arthur, Brian (20122) How Britain Won the War of 1812: The Royal Navy's Blockades of the United States, 1812-1815. (Boydell & Brewer). ISBN 9781843836650
• Emmons, George Foster (1853) The navy of the United States, from the commencement, 1775 to 1853; with a brief history of each vessel’s service and fate ... Comp. by Lieut. George F. Emmons ... under the authority of the Navy Dept. To which is added a list of private armed vessels, fitted out under the American flag ... also a list of the revenue and coast survey vessels, and principal ocean steamers, belonging to citizens of the United States in 1850. (Washington: Gideon & Co.)
• Hannings, Bud (2012) The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers. (McFarland). ISBN 9780786463855
• Heidler, David Stephen, & Jeanne T. Heidler (2004) Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. (Naval Institute Press). ISBN 9781591143628
• Hare, Charles (1848) Testimonials and memorials of the services of Lieut. Charles Hare, of the Royal Navy.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.