HMS Pickle (1800) - Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

In 1803 Pickle was attached to Admiral William Cornwallis' Inshore Squadron, where she reconnoitered enemy harbours during the blockade of Brest, Rochefort and Lorient. On 1 June Pickle was in company with Diana when they took the French brig Euphrosiné. Then on 9 July Pickle captured the Prudent.

Pickle sailed from Plymouth on 15 October to cruise in the Channel and on 22 October she detained the American vessel Resolution. Pickle sailed from Plymouth again on 28 December and returned on 31 January 1804, having lost her main-topmast and fore-yard in a gale on the 19th.

On 25 March 1804 Pickle went to the assistance of Magnificent, which had run on to a shoal off Brest. Pickle and the frigate Fox came alongside soon after Magnificent struck, as did Indefatigable and Aigle. The vessels then rescued Magnificent's crew before she foundered.

On 26 July, the flagship in the Hamoaze made a signal, at which a seaman from Pickle, attended by the boats of the fleet, manned and armed, was flogged around the fleet in the Hamoaze and the Sound. Lapenotiere had charged the man with mutiny, a charge the court martial board dismissed. However they did find the man guilt of insolence, desertion and disobedience. At the same time a seaman from Doris was also flogged around the fleet for having attempted to kill a messmate asleep in his hammock.

On 24 and 25 September Pickle captured two French chasse-marees loaded with supplies for the French fleet at Brest and brought them into Plymouth. Lapenotiere had driven them into the Bay there and then sent his boats to bring them out. Boadicea was in sight. The two French vessels may have been the Marie Française from Bordeaux and the Desirée from Quimper.

Pickle was in company with Naiad on 9 July 1805 when they captured the brig Argo and the sloop Nelly. Then on 19 July Pickle found herself becalmed in the Straits of Gibraltar. Two Spanish gunboats came up and fired on her until there was enough wind for Pickle to be able to maneuver to bring her broadsides to bear, at which point she was able to chase the gunboats towards Tarifa. However, the wind faltered, and seven Spanish gunboats came out to harass Pickle. Pickle was able to tack to the shelter of Fort Tangier, though one gunboat continued to harass her until the wind was strong enough for Pickle to sail away and return to the British fleet. Despite the duration of the engagement, Pickle suffered only one man wounded.

On 29 September Pickle captured the American brig Indefatigable. Then on 9 October, Pickle accompanied Weazle when they went to assist Captain Henry Blackwood in watching the coast off Cádiz, and to provide reconnaissance services for the fleet. Pickle managed to sail close enough to the coast to provide an exact count of the enemy warships in Cadiz harbour. Also, Pickle apparently managed to capture a Portuguese settee carrying bullocks from Tangiers to Cadiz.