View source for HMS Renard (1803)

{{other ships|HMS Renard|French ship Renard}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=France
|Ship flag=[[File:Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svg|45px|French Navy Ensign]]
|Ship name=''Renard''
|Ship namesake=The [[fox]], an animal of the [[genus]] [[Vulpes]]
|Ship builder=Michel Colin-Olivier, Dieppe
|Ship acquired=April 1793
|Ship laid down=March 1793
|Ship launched=Early June 1793
|Ship captured=November 1803
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|Royal Navy Ensign]]
|Ship name= HMS ''Renard''
|Ship renamed=HMS ''Crafty''
|Ship acquired=By capture 1803 
|Ship fate=Captured 1807
|Ship honours=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=364}}
|Ship type=[[Schooner]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship tons burthen=146 ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|Ship length={{convert|76|ft|5|in|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|19|ft|10|in|m|1|abbr=on}} 
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship speed=
|Ship range=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=*'''French service''':110; 80 at capture
*'''British service''':60 (plan); 48 (actual)
|Ship armament=*'''French service'''
**Originally: 12 × 4-pounder guns + 6 × [[swivel gun]]s
**'''Later:''' 4 × 6-pounder guns + 6 × 4-pounder guns
**'''1795''': 12 × 6-pounder guns
**'''At capture''': 12 × 4-pounder guns + 6 × [[swivel gun]]s 
*'''British service''': 12 × 12-pounder [[carronade]]s + 2 × 4-pounder guns
|Ship notes=
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'''HMS ''Renard''''' was a 12-gun [[schooner]], previously the French navy schooner ''Renard''. {{HMS|Cameleon|1795|6}} captured her in 1803 off Corsica and the [[Royal Navy]] took her into service under her existing name. The already being an {{HMS|Renard|1797|6}} (a sloop), on the West Indies station, at some point between 1804 and 1807 the schooner's name was changed to HMS ''Crafty''. During her brief service ''Renard''/''Crafty'' captured several merchantmen and a small armed vessel. In 1807 three Spanish privateers captured her.

==French career==
''Renard'' was originally a lugger built and launched at Dieppe in June 1793. The French Navy purchased her on the ways in April 1793.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|p=241}} Under the command of ''[[enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu]]'' Troquet, in October the lugger ''Renard'' sailed from Havre to [[Brest, France|Brest]]. From 27 January 1794 to the end of the year, ''Renard'' was under the command of  ''enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu'' Catelain. She cruised, carried out liaison missions, and escorted convoys between la Hougue and Boulogne-sur-Mer. The next year, first under Catelain, and then ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Bigot, ''Renard'' protected the herring fisheries off Havre, escorted convoys, and inspected facilities between Cherbourg and Boulogne-sur-Mer.

On 21 November 1800, ''Renard'' was still under Constantin's command when she fought a British cutter, apparently inconclusively, in [[Île-d'Aix]] [[roadstead|Roads]]. She then returned to Rochefort for a week. Between 1800 and 1803, ''Renard'' was converted to a [[schooner]] rig.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|p=241}}

In November 1803, the schooner ''Renard'', under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Jacques Constantin, was escorting a transport carrying troops from [[Calvi, Haute-Corse|Calvi]]. French records attribute her capture on 25 November to {{HMS|Cameleon|1795|6}} and {{HMS|Victory|1737|6}},<ref>''Fonds Marine, 1790-1804'', p.312.</ref> and report that ''Renard'' surrendered after having been fired on for hours by two ships, one being ''Cameleon''.{{sfnp|Troude|1867|p=298}}

==Capture==
British records differ. On 16 November ''Cameleon'' was part of Nelson's squadron off Corsica. She was lying nearly becalmed off [[Cap Corse]], when her captain sighted an armed schooner escorting a transport. He deployed the boats, which succeeded in capturing the French naval schooner ''Renard'', of 12 guns.{{sfnp|Marshall|1827|pp=83-86}} {{HMS|Stately|1784|2}} went in chase of the transport, a brig, and captured her.<ref name=Nelson287/> In his dispatches, Nelson simply attributed the capture to his squadron, though ''Victory{{'}}''s log in the Admiralty records ''Cameleon'' and ''Stately'' as the captors. Nelson's letter described ''Renard'' as being armed with twelve 4-pounder guns and six swivel guns, and carrying a crew of 80 men. The transport brig was the ''Titus'', and she was taking 96 troops to Toulon.<ref>{{London Gazette|page=261|issue=15679|date=28 February 1804}}</ref> ''Stately'' then escorted both prizes to Malta.<ref name=Nelson287>Nelson (1845), p.287.</ref>

==Royal Navy career==
There the officers of the Malta Yard surveyed her; after she was found fit for service the navy commissioned her as ''Renard'' and Nelson appointed Lieutenant [[Richard Spencer (Royal Navy officer)|Richard Spencer]], who had earlier served on ''Cameleon'' and had transferred to {{HMS|Triumph|1764|2}}, to command her.<ref>Nelson (1845), p.321.</ref> Nelson suggested that she should have a crew of 60 men, including two boys, and that Spencer apply to Sir [[Alexander Ball]], the British governor of Malta, for Maltese to man her. Nelson further directed that ''Renard'' serve Ball for the protection of Malta's commerce and such other services as Ball would determine.<ref>Nelson & Nicholas (1845), Vol. 5, p.321.</ref> ''Renard'' was later renamed ''Crafty'' but the two names coexisted for a time.

While escorting a convoy of merchantmen ''Crafty'' drove on shore and destroyed a [[Cisalpine Republic|Cisalpine]] 4-gun privateer that had come out from Syracuse.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}} This occurred on 28 July 1804, and resulted in Nelson writing a letter of reprimand to Spencer. Because of the weather, Spencer had permitted the four merchant vessels that he was escorting to anchor southward of Cape Moro di Porco (Capo Murro di Porco, five kilometers south of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]]). While they waited, he sailed to investigate a strange vessel in sight. Then another vessel came on the scene, having rounded the Cape from Syracuse, and approached the merchant vessels. The captains of those vessels feared the newcomer was a privateer, so they cut their cables and set sail towards ''Renard''. Spencer decided to  "chastise" the presumed privateer for violating the neutrality of Sicily and so sailed towards her. The newcomer then drove onto the rocks and landed her crew. Nelson pointed out that although destroying privateers that violated Sicily's neutrality was a worthwhile objective, Spencer's first responsibility was to protect the convoy and that he should not have left the merchantmen. Furthermore, had he stayed with them, he might have come to have legal ground to engage the newcomer [once it had revealed by its actions, such as firing a shot, that it was indeed a privateer].<ref>Nelson and Nicholas (1846), Vol. 6, pp.214-5.</ref> Subsequently, [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|King Ferdinand]] of the [[Kingdom of Naples and Sicily]] raised a concern about Spencer's possible violation of the Kingdom's neutrality and Nelson ordered an investigation.<ref>Nelson (1886), Vol. 6, pp. 375 & 393.</ref> Spencer was apparently exonerated as nothing more eventuated.<ref>Nelson and Nicholas (1846), Vol. 6, pp. 362-63.</ref>

In February 1806, there arrived at Malta three French vessels, prizes to ''Renard''. ''Renard'' had captured off [[Marettimo|Maretimo]] (the westernmost of the [[Aegadian Islands]], off the west coast of Sicily), a [[polacre|polacca]] sailing in ballast from Marseilles to Sicily. From her Spencer learned that there were two vessels fitting out at [[Agrigento|Gergenti]] for Genoa, well-manned and armed. Spenser gave Mr. Andrew Towill, ''Renard{{'}}''s master, permission to take 15 men in the captured polacca to seek them out. After 16 days, Towill encountered the two vessels. He chased them for six hours and fired muskets at them before they [[striking the colours|struck]]. The two vessels were polaccas, each armed with six guns, 16 muskets, and a chest of small arms, and having a crew of 18 men. The merchantmen suffered one man killed and three wounded before they surrendered. Their crews were Genoese and the vessels were carrying sulphur, gum, and almonds. Towill succeeded in getting all three polaccas safely back to Malta, where the [[Vice admiralty court|court]] condemned them as legal prizes containing French goods.<ref>''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 16, pp.218-9.</ref>{{efn|On 6 October 1807, Parliament granted [[£sd|£]]1138 10[[shilling|s]] 8[[pence|d]] to the officers and crew of "H.M. schooner ''Renard''", representing "2-3rds of the value of sundry Genoese Vessels".<ref>House of Commons (1810) ''Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command'', p.350. (H.M. Stationery Office).</ref> Spencer would have received at least a quarter of this grant (net of ''Renard{{'}}''s agent's fees), and possibly three eighths; five-eighths would have been divided among ''Renard{{'}}''s entire crew, not just the men on the polacca. Still, given the small size of the crew, it would have a notable sum, even for the ship's boys.}}

July saw ''Crafty'' off the coast of Calabria. {{HMS|Amphion|1798|2}}, under the command of Sir [[William Hoste]], had supported British troops in the [[Battle of Maida]]. Hoste then sailed to Messina. There General Broderick asked Hoste to support the British and Neapolitan attack on Reggio. Reggio surrendered on 10 July; two days later ''Crafty'', two Neapolitan gunboats, and three armed boats from {{HMS|Madras|1795|2}} joined ''Amphion''. A few days later a detachment of troops from the [[78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot|78th Regiment of Foot]] under Lieutenant-Colonel M'Leod, joined them as well. On 25 July, Hoste's squadron sailed for Cape Cotrone (probably Capo Rizzuto). They arrived in time to anchor the next day by the river Tacina (Fiume Tacina) and fire on a column of French troops marching from [[Catanzaro]] to [[Crotone|Cotrone]], forcing the French inland. Cotrone surrendered on 30 July.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15952|pages=1153–1155|date=7 July 1806}}</ref>{{sfnp|Hoste|1833|pp=279-80}}

In October 1806 Ball sent Spencer to negotiate with the [[Dey of Algiers]] for the release of some Maltese whom the Algerians had enslaved before Malta became a British possession. As Spencer was about to leave, his mission unsuccessful, the Dey, expressing his wish to be friendly with Britain, released 30 men and two ladies who had been slaves for more than 15 years. He also requested that a British frigate come to take his ambassador to Constantinople. On Spencer's return, the Government of Malta presented him with a piece of plate valued at 100 [[Guinea (coin)|guineas]]. At a later date, Spencer received a second piece of plate, this one worth 40 guineas, in appreciation of his efforts to protect Malta's trade.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}}

On 2 January 1807 Spencer was ashore in Valletta while ''Crafty'' lay at anchor in the fairway. The [[Seventy-four (ship)|74-gun]] {{HMS|Eagle|1804|2}} broke from her moorings and came up so close behind the schooner that it appeared that ''Eagle'' might destroy her. At daylight Spencer saw the situation. The seas were too rough for ''Crafty'' to be able to launch her boats so Spencer waved to draw his crew's attention, and then, stripping off his coats and boots, swam out to her. Once on board, he secured a spring on the anchor cable then cut and ran to a more secure anchorage. Throughout this manoeuvre, ''Eagle{{'}}''s crew stood by with ropes to rescue ''Crafty{{'}}''s crew should that be necessary.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}}

==Fate==
''Crafty'' was on her way with dispatches from the Dardanelles when she stopped at Gibraltar. She sailed from Gibraltar on 7 March in company with the gun-brig {{HMS|Confounder|1805|2}} but the two vessels did not coordinate. ''Crafty'' carried too much sail and ''Confounder'' too little, with the result that they separated.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=118}} The next day ''Crafty'' encountered gunvessels from the Algeciras flotilla and although she escaped, she had a gun dismounted. She sailed towards the Barbary coast and on 9 March anchored in a small bay at north of [[Tetuan]], awaiting a favourable wind.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}}

In the afternoon, while she was at anchor, she sighted three [[lateen]]-rigged [[felucca]]s coming towards her. She cleared for action, and as they approached, cut her cables and sailed to engage them.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=118}}

The three Spanish vessels were ''Gibraltar'' (aka ''Generalissimo''), ''Hurón'', and ''Pastora'' (aka ''Águila''). ''Generalissimo'' and ''Hurón'' were armed with two 32-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder guns, and ''Pastora'' was armed with two 18-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder guns. All three had 70-man crews, augmented with volunteers.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}}{{efn|On 25 November 1806 ''Generalissimo'' had captured the British gunboat {{ship|HM gunboat|Hannah|1803|2}}}}

In the engagement ''Crafty'' lost her fore- and mainyards, which fell over her starboard side. When she could no longer maneuver, one of the three Spanish vessels placed a grapnel on her rudder, holding ''Crafty'' fast. The other two then came alongside, one on the bow and one on the quarter. ''Crafty{{'}}''s crew was able to repel the first boarding attempt, but had to surrender after the second succeeded in carrying her. In all, ''Crafty'' had lost three men killed and 14 wounded.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=118}} One of the wounded may have died because ''Lloyd's List'' report that the British had suffered four men killed and nine wounded in their attack.<ref>[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005721488 ''Lloyd's List'', №4144,- accessed 28 January 2014.]</ref>

Spencer was wounded between the Spaniards' first and second attempts at boarding. He was again wounded during the fighting on deck when he received a blow from a cutlass against his head, knocking him down. His attacker was about to stab Spencer when ''Crafty''{{'}}s master, who was loading a musket, saw what was happening and fired the iron ramrod through the man, killing him instantly.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}}

The Spaniards took ''Crafty'' into [[Ceuta]]. Marshall, in writing Spencer's biography, implied that Spanish casualties were triple those on ''Crafty'', and reported that the Spanish commodore and his captain died while boarding ''Crafty''.{{sfnp|Marshall|1829|pp=40-47}} The Spaniards suffered nine dead and 13 wounded. Among the fatal casualties was Bartolomé Cacobí, ''Huron''{{'}}s captain.

At his court martial for the loss of ''Crafty'', the court reprimanded Spencer for having failed to keep company with ''Confounder'' and for remaining too long at anchor in the bay.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=118}}

==Post script==
''Crafty'' may have been recaptured. There exists a report that she arrived at Sheerness on 11 October 1807, and was sold for breaking up in 1809.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=364}} However, the ''Renard'' that the Commissioners of the Navy offered for sale between December 1808 and May 1809 was a sloop.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=13 May 1809|issue=16256|page=681}}</ref> This suggests that the ''Renard'' in question was {{HMS|Renard|1797|2}}, not the schooner ''Crafty''.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Hepper |first1=David J. |year=1994 |title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859 |publisher=Jean Boudriot |location=Rotherfield |isbn=0-948864-30-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Hoste |first=William |year=1833 |title=Memoirs and Letters of Capt. Sir William Hoste |volume=1 |publisher=Bentley}}
*{{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Staines, Thomas|volume=sup |part=1 |page=79–104}}
*{{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=spencer, Richard|volume=sup |part=3 |page=40–47}}
*Nelson, Horatio, and Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1845-6) ''The Dispatches And Letters''. (Colburn). 
*Nelson, Viscount Horatio Nelson (1886) ''Letters and despatches of Horatio, viscount Nelson: duke of Bronte, vice admiral of the White squadron''. (Longmans, Green).
* {{Cite book|first=Onésime-Joachim|last=Troude|author-link=Onésime-Joachim Troude|year=1867|publisher=Challamel ainé|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rhIR5D5quFYC|title=Batailles navales de la France|language=fr|volume=3}}  
* {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}} 
* {{cite book|last1=Winfield|first1=Rif|last2=Roberts|first2=Stephen S.|year=2015|title=French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=978-1-84832-204-2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renard (1803)}}
[[Category:1793 ships]]
[[Category:Schooners of the French Navy]]
[[Category:Schooners of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]