Contents

HMS Defender (1809)

Defender
History
France
Name	Bon Marcel
Commissioned	1809[1]
Captured	10 December 1809
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Defender
Acquired	1809 by capture
Commissioned	January 1811
Fate	Sold 1814
General characteristics [2]
Tons burthen	13923⁄94 (bm)
Length	65 ft0+1⁄2 in (19.8 m) (overall 54 ft2+1⁄2 in (16.5 m) (keel)
Beam	17 ft2+1⁄2 in (5.2 m)
Depth of hold	7 ft 4 in (2.2 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Lugger
Complement	40
Armament	8 × 12-pounder carronades

HMS Defender was the French privateer lugger Bon Marcel (Beau Marseilles in British records), that Royalist captured in 1809. Defender served without distinction in Home Waters for slightly more than three years before being sold in 1814.

Career[edit]

Royalist captured Beau Marseille on 10 December 1809. She was armed with 14 guns, had a crew of 60 men and was three months old. Commander John Maxwell, captain of Royalist, described her as "a very beautiful vessel" and "one of the fastest sailers out of Boulogne."^[3][a][b]

The Royal Navy took Bon Marcel into service as Defender. From 15 February to 16 March 1811 she underwent fitting out at Sheerness.^[2]

In January 1811 Lieutenant Moses Cannadey commissioned her for The Downs.^[2][c]

On 24 June 1813 Defender captured Hope.^[5] Defender shared the prize money for Hoop with Decoy.^[6]

Fate[edit]

Defender was offered for sale in August 1814.^[7] She was sold at Chatham for £280 on 1 September 1814.^[2]

Notes[edit]

Citations[edit]

References[edit]

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 A 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-903179-30-1.
• Long, William H. (1895). "Medals of the British navy and how they were won : with a list of those officers, who for their gallant conduct were granted honorary swords and plate by the Committee of the Patriotic Fund". Norie & Wilson. OCLC 613203093.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.

External links[edit]

• Media related to HMS Defender (ship, 1809) at Wikimedia Commons