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HMS Niger (1759)

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Frigate of the Royal Navy For other ships with the same name, see HMS Niger and HMS Negro.

HMS Niger hull plan
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Niger
NamesakeNiger River
Ordered19 September 1757
BuilderSheerness Dockyard
Laid down7 February 1758
Launched25 September 1759
CompletedBy November 1759
RenamedHMS Negro in 1813
Honours and
awards		Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"
FateSold for breaking up on 29 September 1814
General characteristics
Class and typeNiger-class fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen67967⁄94 bm
Length
  • 125 ft (38 m) (gundeck)
  • 103 ft 4 in (31.50 m) (keel)
Beam35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Depth of hold12 ft (3.7 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement220
Armament
  • As built
    • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
    • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns
    • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns
    • 12 × 1⁄2-pdr swivels
  • After 1794
    • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
    • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 24-pounder carronades
    • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

HMS Niger was a 32-gun Niger-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

History

She was launched in 1759.

In 1766, under the command of Sir Thomas Adams, Niger travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador. Also on board were Constantine Phipps, and the English botanist Joseph Banks. The purpose of the journey was to transport a party of mariners to Chateau Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador to build a fort, to continue strengthening relations with the native population, and to survey some of the coast of Newfoundland.

Banks collected many species of plants and animals during that journey, including many which were previously unknown or undescribed by Europeans. In 1766 Banks met James Cook briefly in St John's, through their mutual friend Thomas Adams. This meeting would lead to Banks joining Cook on his first circumnavigation from 1769 to 1771.

During the American Revolutionary War in 1776, Niger briefly engaged Gurnet Fort guarding Plymouth, Massachusetts, while searching for patriot privateers. Niger grounded but was soon refloated. Plymouth Light was damaged, but there were no other casualties.

On 14 March, 1778, under command of Captain Robert Lambert, she captured schooner Sukey off Monti Christi, Spanish Santo Domingo. On 18 March She pursued and captured sloop Dove after she ran aground 2 or 3 miles off Monti Christi. Dove was refloated and sent to Jamaica. On 19 March she captured French brig St. Joseph 4 or 5 leagues off Monti Christi. On 1 April, 1778 she captured schooners Angelina and Adventure.

Because Niger served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

On 21 May 1806 Niger was in company with the bomb vessel Thunder and the brig Dexterous when they detained Trende Damen (Three Ladies).

Fate

The Navy converted Niger to a prison hospital ship in May 1809, and renamed her Negro in 1813. She was sold in 1814.

Stern plan of Niger

Notes

  1. Sir Thomas Adams was Niger's captain from March 1763 until 1767. His father, Sir Robert Adams, was a London solicitor, his mother's name was Diana. Sir Thomas was baptized in St Pancras Church, London on 17 February 1738. He inherited a baronetcy on the death of his father, but died without issue in April 1770.
  2. A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.

Citations

  1. "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
  2. ^ Lysaght, p. 37
  3. Lysaght, p. 63
  4. Lysaght, pp. 37 & 41.
  5. Lysaght, p. 38
  6. Lysaght, p. 41
  7. "Massachusetts - Fort Andrew and Gurnet Fort". American Forts Network. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  8. The Gurnet by Charles W.E. Morris at Pilgrimhall.org
  9. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  10. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  11. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  12. "No. 17915". The London Gazette. 3 April 1823. p. 633.
  13. "No. 16390". The London Gazette. 24 July 1810. p. 1104.

References

  • Lysaght, A. M. (1971). Joseph Banks in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1766; his diary, manuscripts, and collections. Berkeley, University of California Press.
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
Niger-class frigates
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