View source for Hired armed lugger Valiant

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Hired armed lugger ''Valiant''}}
The [[Hired armed vessels|hired armed]] [[lugger]] '''''Valiant''''' served the [[Royal Navy]] on a contract from 5 May 1794 to 10 November 1801. She was of 109 <small>{{frac|90|94}}</small> tons ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]), and was armed with eleven 3-pounder guns.<ref name=Winfield>Winfield (2008), p. 388.</ref>

Lieutenant [[Thomas Baker (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Baker]] commanded ''Valiant'' from 20 May 1794 until he moved to {{HMS|Fairy|1778|6}} in November as her acting-captain. At the time, ''Valiant'' served in the Channel as part of the forces under Rear-Admiral [[John MacBride (Royal Navy officer)|John MacBride]].

On 8 June 1794 ''Valiant'' played a small part in a striking encounter between a frigate squadron under the Guernseyman Captain Sir [[James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez|James Saumarez]], and a larger, stronger French squadron. On 6 June, Saumarez received an order from Admiral Macbride to take his frigate, the 36-gun {{HMS|Crescent|1784|2}}, the 32-gun frigate {{HMS|Druid|1783|2}}, the 24-gun [[post ship]] {{HMS|Eurydice|1781|2}}, and six [[Cutter (ship)|cutters]] and [[lugger]]s (''Valiant'' being one of them), to [[Guernsey]] and [[Jersey]], and then to reconnoiter the French coast around [[Cancale]] and [[Saint Malo]] for signs of the French fleet.<ref name=Ross>Ross (1838), Vol. 1, pp.130-8.</ref>

[[File:Freize of HMS Crescent escaping from a French squadron.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Freize of HMS ''Crescent'' escaping from the French squadron]]
The squadron sailed on 7 December and on 8 December they were some leagues northwest of Guernsey when Saumarez sighted six sails in the distance. He did not think they were French, but he sent ''Valiant'' to investigate. As ''Valiant'' approached, the vessels hoisted French colours and fired on her. The French squadron sailed between the cutters and luggers on the one side and the three British ships on the other, so  the small vessels fled back to Plymouth. Saumarez led the French south towards the [[Les Hanois|Hannoways]], both sides firing at each other but at such a distance that the fire was pro forma. He sent ''Eurydice'', his slowest ship, ahead, while ''Crescent'' and ''Druid'' turned  towards the Guernsey coast. Saumarez then sent ''Druid'' after ''Eurydice''. Both vessels made it around the south coast of Guernsey into [[Saint Peter Port]]. Saumarez sailed close to Guernsey's western shore and through some rocks. What made this possible was Saumarez's pilot, Jean Breton, a Guernseyman who knew the waters well. The French gave up the chase, not being willing to risk their vessels in rocky waters they did not know. Tacking back and forth, ''Crescent'' sailed around Guernsey's north side and then south to Saint Peter Port.<ref name=Ross/> By 14 June ''Valiant'' had rejoined Saumarez.<ref>Ross (1838), Vol. 1, p.140.</ref>

The French squadron consisted of the two 50-gun French [[razee]]s - [[French ship Illustre (1781)|''Scévola'']] and [[French ship Diadème (1756)|''Brutus'']] - the two 36-gun frigates ''Danaé'' and [[French frigate Félicité (1785)|''Félicité'']], and a 14-gun brig. The French squadron mounted 192 guns firing 5056 pounds of shot; Saumarez's three ships mounted 92 guns firing 1500 pounds of shot.<ref name=Ross/>

In early 1795, ''Valiant'' brought 82 officers and men of the [[Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)|2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot]] to Guernsey.<ref>Davis & Wylly (1895), 267.</ref>

''Valiant{{'}}''s next contribution to an action occurred on 20 March 1796, off the [[Pointe du Raz|Bec du Raz]]. A squadron under Sir [[Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet|John Borlase Warren]] in  [[French frigate Pomone (1787)|''Pomone'']], and including {{HMS|Artois|1794|2}}, {{HMS|Anson|1781|2}} and {{HMS|Galatea|1794|2}}, engaged a French squadron escorting a convoy.<ref name=LG13878/> The British captured four brigs from the convoy and Warren instructed ''Valiant'' to take them to the nearest port.<ref name=LG13878/> (The four brigs were the ''Illier'', ''Don de Dieu'', ''Paul Edward'', and ''Félicité''.<ref name=LG13931>{{London Gazette|issue=13931|startpage=885|date=17 September 1796}}</ref>)

The British then engaged the French warships escorting the convoy but were not able to bring them to a full battle before having to give up the chase due to the onset of dark and the dangerous location. ''Galatea'' was the only vessel in the British squadron to suffer casualties; she lost two men killed and six wounded.<ref name=LG13878>{{London Gazette|issue=13878|startpage=290|endpage=291|date= 26 March 1796}}</ref> The store-ship ''Etoile'', under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Mathurin-Théodore Berthelin, [[Striking the colours|struck]]. She was armed with thirty 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 160 men.<ref name=LG13878/> The rest of the convoy escaped.<ref name=LG13878/> 

By 22 August 1796, ''Valiant'' was in the Mediterranean, carrying dispatches for Admiral [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|John Jervis]].<ref>Tucker (1844), p.202 & 209.</ref>

''Valiant{{'}}''s greatest success occurred on 5 and 6 December 1799. She was under the command of Lieutenant Arthur Maxwell, and in the company of His Majesty's hired armed schooner [[Hired armed schooner Speedwell|''Speedwell'']], which was under the command of Lieutenant Robert Tomlinson. On the 5th, they chased a French lugger privateer for six hours before they finally captured her some five [[League (unit)|leagues]] NW of Guernsey. The privateer was the ''Heureuse Esperance'', of Saint Malo, armed with fourteen 3-pounder guns, and with a crew of only 24 men, having placed a number of men aboard the four prizes she had captured before ''Speedwell'' and ''Valiant'' ended her cruise. She had thrown eight guns overboard during the chase.<ref name=LG15211>{{London Gazette|issue=15211|startpage=1269|date=7 December 1799}}</ref> 

The next day ''Speedwell'' and ''Valiant'' chased another privateer brig for nine hours (the last hour and ten minutes being a running fight). The British vessels forced the privateer to [[striking the colours|strike]] some two miles north of the Swin (sic) Islands. The privateer was the ''Heureux Speculateur'', of [[Granville, Manche|Granville]]. She was armed with fourteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 58 men under the command of Citizen Louis Joseph Quoniam. She had been cruising for four days but had not taken anything. In the exchange of fire the privateer had had one man killed and seven wounded; there were no British casualties. Tomlinson described ''Heureux Speculateur'' as "a remarkably fast Sailer [that] has done a great deal of Mischief to the English Trade."<ref name=LG15211/>

At some point, probably in 1800, ''Valiant'' captured the ''Louisa''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15283|startpage=917|date=9 August 1800}}</ref> 

On 18 April 1801, the ''Providence'', of Jersey, came into Plymouth. ''Valiant'' had recaptured 
her some ten leagues off [[The Lizard]]. A French 14-gun privateer had captured ''Providence''; after recapturing ''Providence'', ''Valiant'' had sailed in search of the privateer.<ref>''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 5, p.374.</ref> Then on 7 June ''Valiant'' escorted the [[East Indiaman]] ''Highland Chief'' and a convoy to the [[River Thames]].<ref>''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 5, p.555.</ref>

==Sources==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==References==
*Davis, John, and [[H.C. Wylly|Harold Carmichael Wylly]] (1895) ''The History of the Second, Queen's Royal Regiment, Now the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment: From 1715 to 1799''. (R.Bentley & son). 
*Ross, Sir John (1838) ''Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord De Saumarez: From Original Papers in Possession of the Family''. (R. Bentley).
*Tucker, Jedediah Stephens, ed. (1844) ''Memoirs of Admiral the Right Hon[orabl]e the Earl of St. Vincent ...''. (R. Bentley).
*{{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793&ndash;1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth|year=2008|isbn=1861762461}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valiant, Hired armed lugger}}
[[Category:Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy]]