Heart of Oak (1762 ship)

Heart of Oak, of 300 tons (bm), was launched in South Carolina in 1762. She spent most of her career as a merchant vessel, though between 1777 and 1782 she served the Royal Navy as a hired armed ship.[1] She was last listed in 1789.

For other ships with the same name, see Heart of Oak (ship) and HMS Heart of Oak.

History
Great Britain
NameHeart of Oak
NamesakeHeart of Oak
BuilderSouth Carolina
Launched1762
FateNo longer listed in Lloyd's Register in 1790
General characteristics
Tons burthen300 (bm)
PropulsionSail
Armament20 × 6-pounder guns

Lloyd's List for 29 May 1764 reported that Heart of Oak, Gwinn, master, sailing from South Carolina to London, had arrived off Beachy.[2]

Hired armed ship

Heart of Oak was commissioned in November 1777 under Commander Nathaniel Crosby, and served in the Liverpool area.[3]

When the French attempted to invade Jersey in 1779, Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, who had left Spithead with a squadron escorting a convoy en route to North America, sent the convoy in to Torbay and proceeded to the relief of Jersey with his ships. However, when he arrived he found that Captain Ford of HMS Unicorn had the situation well in hand.[4] The French flotilla retreated to Saint-Malo, but then anchored at Coutances. A British squadron under Captain Sir James Wallace in HMS Experiment attacked the French on 13 May 1779 at Cancale Bay. The British managed to set Valeur (6 guns), Écluse (8), and Guêpe (6) on fire, though the French were able to salvage Guêpe after the British withdrew. The British also captured Danaé (26 or 32 guns), a brig, and a sloop.[5] Heart of Oak apparently was present in some capacity both at the relief and the subsequent action.[3]

In October 1779, Captain Nathaniel Crosby underwent a court martial for embezzlement. He was found guilty, cashiered, and barred from any further employment in the Royal Navy. The purser, who testified against the captain, was discharged without court martial, but it was later established that he had not benefited from the fraud.[6]

Heart of Oak shared with Eagle and Mary in the salvage money paid in January 1780 for the recapture of the brig Thames.[7] The prize money notice, though, does not specify that Heart of Oak was the armed ship, and not the privateer by the same name.

From October 1779 to 1780 she served in the Bristol area under the command of W. Reman. He was still her commander into 1782.[3] Lloyd's List for 14 December 1781 reported that HMS Aurora and Heart of Oak had sent the Three Sisters, Cornelieson, master, into Penzance. Three Sisters had been carrying a cargo of planks from Bruges to Nantes.[8]

At the end of the American Revolutionary War the Royal Navy returned its hired armed vessels to their owners. Heart of Oak then resumed her mercantile career.

Lloyd's Register

The information in Lloyd's Register is only as accurate and up-to-date as the information owners of vessels bothered to provide. One finds, therefore, information that is stale-dated and inaccurate (i.e., contradicted in later listings). In the listing below, there is clearly a confusion of names between 1784 and 1787.

Year Vessel Master Owner Trade Notes
1764 Heart of Oak[9] H. Gunn Grubb & Co. London 200 tons (bm); South Carolina-built (1763)
1765–1775 Not available on-line
1776 Heart of Oak[10] Henry Gunn Alex. Watson Carolina-London 200 tons (bm); Carolina-built (1762)
1777 Not available on-line
1778 Heart of Oak[11] Hr. Gunn A. Watson Carolina-London 200 tons (bm); Carolina-built (1762)
1779 Heart of Oak[12] Crosbie J Mather London transport 300 tons (bm); South Carolina built; 20 x 9-pounder guns
1780 Heart of Oak[13] W. Redman J. Mather London armed ship 300 tons (bm); South Carolina built; 20 x 9-pounder guns
1781 Heart of Oak[14] W. Redman J. Mather London armed ship 20 x 9-pounder guns
1782 Heart of Oak[15] W. Redman J. Mather London armed ship South Carolina built; 20 x 9-pounder guns
1783 Heart of Oak[16] W. Redman J. Mather London armed ship South Carolina built; 20 x 9-pounder guns
1784 Heart of Oak
Now – illegible[17]		 Grandwater?
Rogers		 J. Mather Africa-London 300 tons; Americas built
Heart of Oak[18] R. Redman
J. Mather		 J. Mather London 300 tons; South Carolina built (1762)
Hannibal No entry
Prince of Wales No entry
1785 Not available on line
1786 Hannibal[19] J. Banfield J. Mather London-Africa 310 tons (bm); Sidmouth built (1779); great repair 1784
Hannibal[20] J. Bamfield J. Mather Antigua-London 300 tons (bm); South Carolina built (1762); former Heart of Oak
1787 Hannibal[21] J. Banfield J. Mather London-Africa 310 tons (bm); Sidmouth-built (1779); great repair 1784; "now Prince of Wales"
Hannibal[22] J. Bamfield J. Mather Antigua-London 300 tons (bm); South Carolina-built (1762); great repair 1784; ex-"Heart of Oak"
Prince of Wales J. Mason J. Mather London – Botany Bay 300 tons (bm); almost rebuilt 1786; named Hannibal in 1786
1788 Not available on-line
1789 Heart of Oak
Now: illegible		 W. Gillis J. Mather London – Quebec 300 tons (bm); South Carolina-built (1762)

Citations
  1. Winfield (2007), p. 353.
  2. Lloyd's List, n° 2961.
  3. "NMM, vessel ID 368348" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol i. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  4. "No. 11976". The London Gazette. 4 May 1779. pp. 2–3.
  5. Clowes et al. (1899), p.25.
  6. Steel (1805), pp.18–21.
  7. "No. 12047". The London Gazette. 8 January 1780. p. 2.
  8. Lloyd's List, n° 1318.
  9. Lloyd's Register (1764).
  10. Lloyd's Register (1776), seq. no. H136.
  11. Lloyd's Register (1780), seq. no. H116
  12. Lloyd's Register (1780), seq. no. H97.
  13. Lloyd's Register (1780), seq. no. H100.
  14. Lloyd's Register (1781), seq. non. H100.
  15. Lloyd's Register (1782), seq. no. H92.
  16. Lloyd's Register (1783), seq. no. H97.
  17. Lloyd's Register (1784), seq. no.H101.
  18. Lloyd's Register (1784), seq. no.H105.
  19. Lloyd's Register (1786), Seq. no. H402.
  20. Lloyd's Register (1786), Seq. no. H403.
  21. Lloyd's Register (1787), seq. no. H446.
  22. Lloyd's Register (1787), seq. no. H447.

References
  • Clowes, W. Laird, et al. (1897–1903) The royal navy: a history from the earliest times to the present. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co.; London: S. Low, Marston and Co.).
  • Steel, P. (1805) A Treatise on Naval Courts Martial.
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.

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