HMS Medway (1812)

HMS Medway was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 November 1812 at Northfleet.[1]

Medway
History
UK
Name:	HMS Medway
Ordered:	19 August 1807
Builder:	Pitcher, Northfleet
Laid down:	December 1808
Launched:	19 November 1812
Fate:	Sold, 1865
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:	Vengeur-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1768 bm
Length:	176 ft (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades

Naval service

At 7am on 4 July 1814, Medway was under the command of Captain Augustus Brine when she encountered the USS Syren, a 16-gun United States brig. An eleven-hour chase ensured, with Syren's crew throwing their cannons, anchors and ballast overboard in the hope of escaping the pursuing British vessel. Their efforts were insufficient and the American vessel was surrendered at sunset.[2] Her crew of 137 men were taken prisoner, and her cargo of ivory impounded and later paid out to Medway's crew as prize money for the capture.[Note 1]

The hulk of Medway at HMD Bermuda in 1862

Medway was converted to serve as a prison ship at the Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island in Bermuda in 1847. The colony had been selected for development as the primary British naval and military base in the North American and West Indian region following the loss of all British ports between Nova Scotia and the West Indies with American Independence. Bermuda's manpower was entirely devoted to shipbuilding and seafaring, and the shortage of cheap manual labour led the Admiralty to import convicts from British and Irish prisons, who were housed in hulks like the Medway. Conditions for the convicts were harsh, and discipline was draconian.

In 1849, convict James Cronin, on Medway, was placed in solitary confinement from the 25th to the 29th for fighting. On release, and being returned to work, he refused to be cross-ironed. He ran onto the breakwater, brandishing a poker threateningly. For this, he was ordered to receive punishment (presumably flogging) on Tuesday, 3 July 1849, with the other convicts aboard the hulk assembled behind a rail to witness. When ordered to strip, he hesitated. Thomas Cronin, his older brother, addressed him and, while brandishing a knife, rushed forward to the separating rail. He called out to the other prisoners in Gaelic and many joined him in attempting to free the prisoner and attack the officers. The officers opened fire. Two men were killed and twelve wounded. Punishment of James Cronin was then carried out. Three hundred men of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, in barracks on Ireland Island, responded to the scene under arms.[4]

Medway was sold out of the Navy in 1865.[1]

An 1848 woodcut of HMD Bermuda, Ireland Island, Bermuda, with hulks, including the Medway.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. A first-class share of the prize money was worth £195 16s 4½d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 13s 11½d.[3]

Citations

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p189.
2. "Admiralty Office, November 9". Kentish Chronicle. Canterbury, United Kingdom: Mawer Cowtan & Robert Colegate: 3. 22 November 1814. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
3. "No. 17121". The London Gazette. 23 March 1816. p. 560.
4. Bermuda Sampler 1815-1850, by William Zuill. Publisher: The Bermuda Book Store. 1 January 1937

References

• Hannings, Bud. (2012). The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6385-5
• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.