Battle of New Orleans.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Peter Parker's HMS Weazel

From Wikipedia.  The final Peter Parker instalment.  For someone who had never heard of Peter Parker, I sure know a lot about him now.  He sure came from a Royal Naval family and I would have to compare him to the Civil War's William Cushing as far as courage, bravery and willingness to take chances.

The HMS Weazel is also found spelled Weazle and Weasel and was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer Class brig-sloop launched in 1805 at Topsham, Devon.  It saw active service in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars.  Decommissioned in 1815 and broken up in 1825, 

Entered service in 1805 under Commander Peter Parker and in August sailed to Cadiz and joined the British fleet under Lord Nelson and was assigned to carefully watch the port exit of Cadiz for movement of the Franco-Spanish fleet and when they did, signalled Nelson.

Parker was angry when he was dispatched to go after five British ships-of-the-line that Nelson had sent to the Strait of Gibraltar, hoping to lure the enemy out.  As such, the Weazel missed the Battle of Trafalgar.

Afterwards, continued operations in the Mediterranean against the French.

Another Ship, Another Story.  --Brock-Perry

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