Hussar (1812 ship)

History
Name:	Hussar
Owner:	John Hollins, John Smith Hollins, William Hollins, & Michael McBlair
Builder:	Talbot County, Maryland
Launched:	1812
Captured:	25 May 1814
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen:	211 (bm)
Length:	96 feet (29.3 m)
Beam:	24 feet (7.3 m)
Depth of hold:	10 feet 3 inches (3.1 m)
Sail plan:	Schooner
Complement:	Letter of marque: 30 Privateer: 100
Armament:	Letter of marque: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 12-pounder carronades Privateer: 1 × 12-pounder gun + 8 × 12-pounder carronades[2]

Hussar was an American privateer active during the War of 1812. Hussar was launched in 1812 and made several cruises, first two as a letter of marque, and two as a privateer, but apparently without success. HMS Saturn captured her.

• First letter of marque: Captain Joshua Mezick commissioned Hussar on 10/31/12.^[1]
• Second letter of marque: Captain Tom Manning commissioned her on 7/17/13.^[1]
• First privateer cruise: Captain Joshua Mezick commissioned her on 11/3/13.^[1] No record of any captures.^[3]
• Second privateer cruise: Captain Francis Jenkins commissioned her on 5/17/14.^[1]

Capture

On 25 May 1814 Saturn captured Hussar at 40°8′N 73°28′W / 40.133°N 73.467°W after a four-hour chase. Hussar was armed with one 12-pounder gun and nine 12-pounder carronades, eight of which she threw overboard during the chase. Her complement consisted of 98 men. She had been in commission for only a week and had left New York the previous evening for her first cruise, bound for Newfoundland; she was provisioned for a four-month cruise. Nash described her as "coppered, copper-fastened, and sails remarkably fast".^{[2][Note 1]}

Fate

Hussar was condemned at the Vice admiralty court, Halifax, Nova Scotia.^[5]

Notes, citations and references

Notes

1. Head money was paid in May 1816. A first-class share was worth £105 12s 10d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 8s 3d.^[4]

Citations

1. Cranwell and Crane (1940).
2. The London Gazette: no. 16916. p. 1415. 12 July 1814.
3. Emmons (1853), p.182.
4. The London Gazette: no. 17136. p. 911. 14 May 1816.
5. Vice-admiralty court, Halifax (1911), p.128.

References

• Cranwell, John Philips, & William Bowers Crane (1940) Men of marque; a history of private armed vessels out of Baltimore during the War of 1812. (New York, W.W. Norton & Co.).
• 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.)
• Vice-Admiralty Court, Halifax (1911) American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute).