HMS Union (1823)

HMS Union was the mercantile City of Kingston that the Royal Navy purchased in 1823 for service as a 3-gun schooner. She served in the suppression of the slave trade in the West Indies. She was wrecked in 1828.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Union.

History
United Kingdom
Name: City of Kingston
Namesake: Kingston, Jamaica
Launched: 1821
Fate: Sold 1823
United Kingdom
Acquired: 1823 by purchase
Fate: Wrecked 17 May 1828
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen: 84 (bm)
Length:
  • Overall:59 ft 9 in (18.2 m)
  • Keel:44 ft 6 1⁄4 in (13.6 m)
Beam: 18 ft 0 in (5.5 m)
Depth of hold: 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m)
Sail plan: schooner
Armament: 3 or 4 guns
Notes: She was fitted with two centreboards on pivots with the result that she had a draught of only 6 ft 6 in (2.0 m).[2]

Career

Lieutenant H.O. Love commissioned Union in September 1824 at Kingston, Jamaica. In October Lieutenant James C. Bennet replaced Love. However, her commander in November was Lieutenant Henderson. Under, his command, on 1 November 1823 Union captured the Spanish slave vessel Eugenia.[Note 1]

In March 1825, the frigate HMS Dartmouth, the schooners Lion and Union, and the USS Gallinipper participated in an operation against Cuban pirates. United States Navy Lieutenant Isaac McKeever led an attack against a schooner at the mouth of the Sagua la Grande. American and British forces took the schooner. The attackers killed eight pirates and captured 19 more; attackers' casualties were only one man wounded. On the following day, the force captured another schooner but the pirates escaped and the vessel was taken without bloodshed.

From 19 June 1825 to August Union was under the command of Lieutenant Charles Elliot.

On 24 January 1826 Union, Lieutenant A.B.Lowe, captured the Spanish slave schooner Magico.[4][5] Union sighted Magico on 20 January of the Grand Bahama Bank. An action began with the two vessels exchanging shots. Magico sailed off after half-an-hour, firing her stern chasers at the pursuing Union. The pursuit lasted two days before Magico's crew ran her aground at Manatí, Puerto Rico. Locals helped the crew land some 200 slaves before the crew deserted. Thirty slaves drowned while they were being transferred to the shore. When Union came up she recovered the 200 slaves that had been landed plus 179 who were still on board. When Lowe boarded Magico he had her magazine searched. There the British discovered a keg of powder with a slow-burning match, which they extinguished.[5][Note 2][Note 3]

In late April, Union gave chase to the Spanish slaver Palowna. The two exchanged fire, which killed three Spaniards. When Union lost his quarry in the dark on 28 April, Lowe anchored. The slaver continued and ran into a coral head. She was holed and sank. Of her 29 crew members and 165 slaves, only her master and one man survived.[8]

Lieutenant Berry Harries commanded Union from August 1826 to May 1827, when Lieutenant Charles Calmady Dent assumed command. While in command of Union, Dent, with two boats, captured a pirate vessel.[9] Dent received promotion to Commander on 5 January 1828,[9] and Lieutenant Charles Madden replaced Dent, only to be replaced by Lieutenant John Wills.

Loss

On 16 March 1828 Lieutenant Wills sailed Union from Port Royal, Jamaica, bound for Havana. He anchored for the night. Next morning he sailed again, only to have to anchor to avoid reefs. When her anchors parted, Union struck the reef and rolled on her side. A boat was launched but overset in the surf. Her masts fell over, which enabled the crew to reach land. In all six men had drowned. The subsequent court martial found that Wills had carried too much sail when close to the land, and had failed to order the regular taking of soundings, with the result that she had struck the Porpoise Rocks at the eastern end of Rose Island. Lieutenant Wills was dismissed the service.[10]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

  1. A 2nd class share was worth £20 13s 5¾d; a sixth-class share, that of an Ordinary Seaman, was worth £1 5s 0½d.[3]
  2. A first-class share of the bounty money for the slaves on her and a portion of the value of her hull and stores was worth £532 13s 8d; a sixth-class share was worth £28 10s 8¼d.[6] A sixth-class share was worth more than a year's salary of an Ordinary seaman.
  3. Mágico was a Spanish vessel of five guns, under the command of Captain Jose Ynza. Her slave-trading voyage started in Havana on 26 May 1825 and she acquired her slaves at Popo. Union delivered Mágico and 379 slaves to Havana where the Court of Mixed Commission condemned them.[7]

Citations

  1. Winfield (2014), pp. 272–273.
  2. Grindal (2016), p. 386.
  3. "No. 18404". The London Gazette. 12 October 1827. p. 2104.
  4. "No. 18399". The London Gazette. 25 September 1827. p. 1998.
  5. Grindal (2016), p. 388.
  6. "No. 18410". The London Gazette. 2 November 1827. p. 2258.
  7. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Magico voyage #2374.
  8. Grindal (2016), p. 389.
  9. O'Byrne (1849), p. 279.
  10. Hepper (1994), pp. 159–160.

References

  • Grindal, Peter (2016). Opposing the Slavers: The Royal Navy’s Campaign against the Atlantic Slave Trade. I.B.Tauris. ASIN B01MYTNUEH.
  • Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
  • O'Byrne, William R. (1849). A Naval Biographical Dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. 1. London: J. Murray.
  • Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817–1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-169-4.
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