View source for HMS Inspector (1782)

{{short description|British naval sloop (1782–1802) and UK whaler and merchant ship (1802–1821)}}
{{other ships|HMS Inspector}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
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| Ship country=Great Britain
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| Ship name = HMS ''Inspector''
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| Ship ordered = 17 April 1780
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| Ship laid down = June 1780
| Ship launched = 29 April 1782
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| Ship fate = Sold February 1802
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|UKGBI|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Inspector''
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| Ship builder = Moses Game, Wivenhoe{{efn|''Lloyd's List'' gave the launch place as nearby Harwich.}}
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| Ship acquired = February 1802 by purchase
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| Ship fate = Condemned 1821
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| Ship tons burthen= 306{{small|{{frac|46|94}}}},{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}} or 320,{{sfnp|House of Commons|1816}} or 328<ref name=LoM>{{cite web|url=http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|title=Letter of Marque, p.69 – Retrieved 25 July 2017.|access-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020052005/http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|archive-date=20 October 2016|url-status=dead }}</ref> ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
| Ship length = *Overall: {{cvt|97|ft|2|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
*Keel: {{cvt|8|ft|0+1/4|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{cvt|26|ft|10|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
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| Ship hold depth = {{cvt|13|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
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| Ship complement = *RN: 125 (121 after 1794)
*1804: 30
*1806: 24
| Ship armament = *RN: 16 × 6-pounder guns + 12 [[swivel gun]]s
*1804: 10 × 6-pounder guns
*1806: 10 × 6-pounder guns
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'''HMS ''Inspector''''' was launched at Wivenhoe in 1782 as the only vessel built to her design. She participated in one campaign and also captured a handful of small merchant vessels before the Navy sold her in 1802. Most notably, her crew participated in the mutiny at the Nore. After her sale, she became the [[whaler]] ''Inspector''. She made six complete voyages to the British [[Whaling in the United Kingdom#The southern whale fishery|southern whale fishery]]. A Chilean privateer captured her in May 1819. Eventually she was condemned as unseaworthy at Santander in 1821.
==Royal Navy==
Commander William Heath commissioned ''Inspector'' in March 1783 for the Irish Sea. He recommissioned her in May. She was paid off in October 1787.
Commander Alexander Mackay recommissioned ''Inspector'' in January 1788 for Southwest Scotland. She was refitted for Channel service at Plymouth between June and September 1789.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
''Inspector'' came under Commander James Lecky in October 1790, still for Southwest Scotland. She underwent fitting at Deptford between March and June 1793.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
Commander Wyndham Bryer recommissioned ''Inspector'' in May 1793. He sailed for the Leeward Islands on 26 December 1793.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
In 1794 ''Inspector'' was part of the naval forces at Admiral [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Jervis's]] capture of the French colonies of [[Martinique]], [[Invasion of Guadeloupe (1794)|Guadeloupe]] and [[Saint Lucia]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13643 |date=22 April 1794|pages=353–359}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13691 |date=5 August 1794|page=804}}</ref>{{efn|Prize money was paid in late 1795. The amount for a captain present at the capture of all three islands was [[£sd|£]]203 11[[shilling|s]] {{frac|4|1|2}}[[pence|d]]; the amount for a seaman was £1 10s.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=20 October 1795 |issue=13824 |page=1090}}</ref> A second payment in 1800 amounted to £777 4s {{frac|6|1|4}} for captains, and £3 13s {{frac|4|3|4}} for seamen.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=5 April 1800 |issue=15245 |page=339}}</ref>}}
Commander Bryer died on 23 October 1794. Commander John Cooke replaced him in command of ''Inspector''.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
On 7 April 1795 ''Inspector'' captured the sloop ''Harriet''.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=26 November 1796  |issue=13955 |page=1150}}</ref>
Then in June 1795 Commander Robert Otway replaced Cooke. He paid off ''Inspector'' in December 1795.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
In September 1796 Commander Charles Lock commissioned ''Inspector'' for the North Sea.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
In May–June 1797 ''Inspector'' was caught up in the [[Spithead and Nore mutinies]], with her crew taking Lock hostage. She was at Yarmouth as part of Admiral [[Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan|Duncan's]] North Sea squadron when her crew mutinied on 30 May. They sailed her to the Nore to join the mutineers there. The mutiny aboard ''Inspector'' followed the foiling of an earlier plot on the Humber on 25 May with the mutineers intending to sail her to France. Lock had the four ringleaders confined aboard {{HMS|Nonsuch|1774|6}}. At the Nore ''Inspector''{{'}}s mutineers there stated that they were holding Lock hostage for the four arrested men. Between 3 and 11 June, ''Inspector'' was one of the four naval vessels that blockaded the Thames. Lock was escorted off ''Inspector'' on 13 June; the mutiny on ''Inspector'' ended the next day. Eventually, all the mutineers aboard ''Inspector'' were pardoned, but they and many others of the crew were transferred to other vessels.{{sfnp|Hawkins|Watt|2007|pp=156–179}}
In the summer of 1799 the Admiralty ordered ''Inspector'' to convoy the merchant ships assembled at the Nore bound for Archangel to the 54 deg. latitude. She was to call at the Humber and some similar ports to gather the vessels there too.<ref>''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 2, p.162.</ref>
On 30 July, {{HMS|Astraea|1781|6}}, ''Inspector'', and {{HMS|Apollo|1794|2}} captured the Dutch Greenlandsmen (northern fisheries whalers) ''Frederick'' and ''Waachzamghheer''. Then a week later they captured the Dutch Greenlandsman ''Liefde ''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15267|page=668|date=14 June 1800}}</ref> Another prize money notice reported that ''Inspector'' shared with {{as written|''Astria''}}, and Apollo in the prize money of the capture in August 1798 of the Dutch Greenlands ships ''Delfte'', ''Groenlandia'', and ''Waachzamghheer''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15241|page=289|date= 22 March 1800 }}</ref>
On 1 December 1799 Commander Lock and ''Inspector'' recaptured the ship ''Meanwell''.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=4 March 1800 |issue=15236 |page=229}}</ref> The new French privateer lugger ''Fantasie'', of 14 guns and 60 men had captured ''Meanwell'', Manners, master, in late November, as well as some other merchant vessels. [[French corvette Jalouse (1794)|HMS ''Jalouse'']] captured ''Fantasie'' and took her into Harwich.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=4017 |date=6 December 1796 |hdl=2027/mdp.39015036615428?urlappend=%3Bseq=203 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015036615428?urlappend=%3Bseq=203 |access-date=24 August 2022}}</ref>{{efn|''Meanwell'', of 210 tons (bm),<ref>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015021233591?urlappend=%3Bseq=244 ''LR'' (1800), Seq. No. M399.]</ref> had been launched in 1799 by John Summers, at Gateshead.<ref>[http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/ShipsM.html Tyne Built Ships: "M".]</ref>}}
In August 1800 ''Inspector'' detained {{ship||Indian Chief|1798 ship|2}}, Service, master, as she was sailing from Hamburg to Bengal.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List|work=Lloyd's List|issue=4081 |date=29 August 1800|hdl=2027/uc1.c3049070?urlappend=%3Bseq=390 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c3049070?urlappend=%3Bseq=390 |accessdate=11 May 2020}}</ref> The government seized seven bales of linen. ''Inspector'' shared the prize money with the [[hired armed vessels|hired armed]] [[Cutter (ship)|cutter]] [[Hired armed cutter Diligent|''Diligent'']].{{efn|Prize money for some bales of linen on ''Indian Chief'', net of costs for the detained neutral vessels, amounted to [[£sd|£]]4 11[[shilling|s]] 9[[pence|d]] for a petty officer and £1 11s 6d for a seaman.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15844|page=1194|date=17 September 1805}}</ref>}}
Commander Lock died on 14 February 1800 at Bath. Commander George Sayer replaced Lock in command of ''Inspector''.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
On 5 May 1800 ''Inspector'' recaptured ''Johanna Eleanora''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15344|page=280|date=10 March 1801}}</ref>{{efn|''Johanna Eleanora'', of 110 tons (bm), had been launched in Pomerania.<ref>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015065522479?urlappend=%3Bseq=213 ''LR'' (1800), Seq. No.J264.]</ref>}}
On 15 December 1800, Admiral Archibald Dickson at Yarmouth Roads, sent {{HMS|Shannon|1796|2}}, {{HMS|Bittern|1796|2}}, the hired armed lugger [[Hired armed lugger Phoenix|''Phoenix'']], and hired armed cutter [[Hired armed cutter Drake|''Drake'']] on a cruise to protect the homeward-bound Baltic fleet from French privateers, one having been reported off Scarborough. He stated in a letter that he intended to augment the patrol with ''Inspector'' and the cutters ''Hazard''and ''Diligent'' when they arrived.<ref>''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 4, p. 513.</ref>{{efn|Dickson's letter referred to ''Diligence'', but there is no record of a hired cutter ''Diligence''.}}
In February 1801 Commander [[Sir Robert Howe Bromley, 3rd Baronet|Robert Howe Bromley]] took command of ''Inspector'' on the Leith Roads station.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}}
'''Disposal:''' "The Principal Offices and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the "Inspector Sloop, 310 Tons, Copper-bottomed and Copper-fastened, lying at Sheerness" for sale on 24 February 1802.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=16 February 1802 |issue=15454 |page=166}}</ref> ''Inspector'' was sold at that time,{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=248}} at the commencement of the [[Peace of Amiens]].
==Mercantile service==
Daniel Bennett purchased ''Inspector''.
{{see also|List of ships owned by Daniel Bennett & Son}}
'''1st whaling voyage (1802–1804):''' Captain Thomas Dennis sailed from England on 10 June 1802. On 1 March 1803 a whale strike caused Captain Dennis great injury and he died a few days later. Captain Harney took command. ''Inspector'' returned to England on 6 March 1804 with more than 700 barrels of [[whale oil]].<ref name=bswf/>
'''2nd whaling voyage (1804–1805):''' Captain Simon Smith acquired a [[letter of marque]] on 28 April 1804.<ref name=LoM/> he sailed from England on 10 May 1804, bound for the [[Kerguelen Islands|Isle of Desolation]]. He returned on 11 July 1805.<ref name=bswf/>
'''3rd whaling voyage (1806–1808):''' Captain Robert Poole acquired a letter of marque on 24 April 1806.<ref name=LoM/> He sailed from England on 15 May 1806. She was reported to have been "all well" at [[Bay of Islands]] in March 1806 and again off New Zealand in September.<ref name=bswf/> In 1808 ''Inspector'', Poole, master, {{ship||Grand Sachem |1801 ship|2}}, Whippey, master, and ''Commerce'', Ceroni, master,  in Bay of Islands. ''Grand Sachem'' and ''Inspector'' were full of oil and preparing to return to England.{{sfnp|McNab|1914|p=317}}  ''Inspector'' arrived back in England on 23 August 1808.
'''4th whaling voyage (1808–1811):''' Captain John Walker sailed from England on 7 October 1808. On 10 July 1811, ''Inspector'', Walker, master, left [[Saint Helena|St Helena]] for London.<ref name=bswf/> ''[[Lloyd's List]]'' reported in October 1811 that she had grounded on Margate Sand, but had been gotten off and put into Margate with the loss of her anchors, cables, and bowsprit, and other damage.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=4602 |date=1 October 1811 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044105232920?urlappend=%3Bseq=221 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044105232920?urlappend=%3Bseq=221  |access-date=24 August 2022}}</ref> She arrived back at [[Gravesend, Kent]] on 9 October 1811.<ref name=bswf/>
{| class=" wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Master
! Owner
! Trade
! Source & notes
|-
| 1812
| T.Dennis
| D.Bennet
| London–South Seas
| ''LR''; new wales and good repair 1802, and some repairs 1805; annotation "on shore"
|-
| 1813
| Stratton
| D.Bennet
| London–South Seas
| ''LR''; good repair 1811
|-
|}
'''5th whaling voyage (1812–1813):''' Captain Andrew Sturton (or Stirton) sailed from England in 1812.<ref name=bswf/> In February 1813 ''Inspector'' was well in the South Sea fishery, in this case at Timor, as were {{ship||Albion|1798 whaler|2}}, {{ship||Baroness Longueville|1804 ship|2}}, {{ship||Cumberland|1800 ship|2}}, [[Grand Sachem (1801 ship)|''Good Sachem'']], {{ship||Ocean|1799 ship|2}}, {{ship||Thames|1805 ship|2}}, and {{ship||Venus |1788 ship|2}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=4798 |date=12 August 1813 |hdl=2027/mdp.39015005785830?urlappend=%3Bseq=141 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005785830?urlappend=%3Bseq=141 |access-date=26 August 2022}}</ref> ''Inspector'' sailed from St Helena as part of a convoy under escort by {{HMS|Cormorant|1804|6}}, a naval storeship coming from the Cape. The convoy included other whalers such as ''Cumberland'', ''Thames'', {{ship||Admiral Berkeley|1807 ship|2}}, and {{ship||Warre|1802 ship|2}}, and some other vessels including {{ship||Rambler|1812 ship|2}}. ''Cormorant'' parted from the convoy on 2 December about 280 miles west of [[Ushant]], and arrived at Portsmouth on 18 December. On 6 December ''Thames'' and ''Cumberland'' spoke ''Inspector'', Martin, master; she had lost her bowsprit, her fore and main masts, and her mizen topmast.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=4831 |date=21 December 1813 |hdl=2027/mdp.39015005785830?urlappend=%3Bseq=220 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005785830?urlappend=%3Bseq=220 |access-date=26 August 2022}}</ref> ''Inspector'' arrived at Gravesend on 21 December.<ref name=bswf/>
In 1813 the British [[East India Company]] (EIC) had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=247}} ''Inspector''{{'}}s owners applied for a licence on 25 July 1814 to engage in whaling in the East Indies and received it on 8 August.{{sfnp|House of Commons|1816}} By then ''Inspector'' had already sailed.
'''6th whaling voyage (1814–1817):''' Captain Barnabas Gardner sailed from London on 10 May 1814. On 6 December 1816 ''Inspector'' was at Timor. She returned to England on 18 February 1817.<ref name=bswf/>
{| class=" wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Master
! Owner
! Trade
! Source
|-
| 1818
| A.Dunkin
| Bennet
| London–South Seas
| ''LR''; good repair 1811
|-
|}
'''7th whaling voyage (1817–loss):''' Captain John Duncan sailed from England on 4 September 1817, bound for Peru.<ref name=bswf/>
The Chilean privateer ''Chileno'' captured ''Inspector'' in May 1818 and sent her into Valparaiso, where ''Inspector'' arrived on 26 June.{{sfnp|Ortiz Sotelo|2015|p=355}} ''[[Lloyd's List]]'' reported in November 1818 that ''Inspector'', Dunkin, master, had been captured and taken into Valparaiso.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5330 |date=6 November 1818 |hdl=2027/mdp.39015005778173?urlappend=%3Bseq=464 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005778173?urlappend=%3Bseq=464 |access-date=26 August 2022}}</ref>
==Fate==
''Lloyd's List'' continued to carry ''Inspector'' with unchanged info until 1825.
However, on 19 December 1819 ''Inspector'', Bruce, master, arrived at Valparaiso from [[Callao]]. Then on 1 March 1821 ''Inspector'', Pashers, master, arrived at Rio de Janeiro from Guayaquil. ''Inspector'', Brun, master, was also reported to have arrived on 24 March at Rio. Then in June ''Lloyd's List'' reported that ''Inspector'', Parkers, master, had arrived at [[Santander, Spain|St Andero]]. Reportedly, ''Inspector'' was condemned at Santander as unseaworthy and broken up there.<ref name=bswf>{{cite web|title=British Southern Whale Fishery database – Voyages: ''Inspector''|url=https://whalinghistory.org/bv/voyages/}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{cite book |last=Hackman |first=Rowan |year=2001 |title=Ships of the East India Company |location=Gravesend, Kent |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn=0-905617-96-7 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hawkins |first1=Anne |last2=Watt |first2=Helen |year=2007  |title='Ow is or time, the is our own, huzza for the red flag: Mutiny on the Inspector, 1797 |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |volume=93 |issue=2 |pages=156–179 |doi=10.1080/00253359.2007.10657031 |s2cid=161670246 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00253359.2007.10657031}}
* {{cite book |author=House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain |year=1816 |title=Parliamentary Papers |volume=10 |ref={{SfnRef|House of Commons|1816}}|url=}}
* {{cite book|last=McNab |first=Robert |title=From Tasman to Marsden: A History of Northern New Zealand from 1642 to 1818 |year=1914 |publisher=J. Wilkie}}
* {{cite book |last=Ortiz Sotelo |first=Jorge |year=2015 |title=La Real Armada en el Pacífico Sur. El Apostadero Naval del Callao 1746-1824 |publisher=Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas/Bonilla Artigas Editores |isbn=9786078348619}}
* {{cite book |first1=Rif |last1=Winfield |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |edition=2nd |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008 |isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inspector (1782)}}
[[Category:1782 ships]]
[[Category:Sloops of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships]]
[[Category:Whaling ships]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]