Well, There Was An Earlier HMS Nimrod (1799), and It Originally Was a French Ship-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

It was originally the 18-gun French corvette Eole of the French Navy that was captured by the HMS Solebay in 1799 and became the HMS Nimrod.  Sold in 1811 and became a whaler.  As a whaler, she did capture several American whalers.

STATS

101 feet long

29 foot beam

Complement:  British 121,  whaler: 36

Armament:  British

Original:

Sixteen 18-pdr. carronades
Two 6-pdr. chaser guns

1804:

Sixteen 24-pdr. carronades
Two 6-pdr. chase guns

As a Whaler

1812

Fourteen 12-pdr. guns

1814

Twelve 12-pdr. guns.

I was unaware that whalers had that type of weaponry.

--Brock-Perry

Col. Samuel Boyer Davis, Defender of Lewes-- Part 1: A French Connection

From Find-A-Grave.

In my October 3, 2017, blog entry, I mentioned War of 1812 Lewes, Delaware defender Col. Samuel Boyer Davis having lived at Fisher's Paradise house in Lewes.

Some more information on him.

He was born in Lewes, Delaware, December 26, 1765 and died September 5, 1854 in  New Castle County, Delaware.

Davis developed a love of the sea at an early age and made many voyages across the Atlantic to France where he eventually joined the French Navy.

An Interesting Life.  --Brock-Perry

Trouble On the High Seas-- Part 3: Seizing and Sinking American Ships

THE TROUBLE AT SEA

This sort of trouble wasn't new.  Ships of the British Royal Navy had been stopping American merchant ships ever since 1793, when England went to war with France.  It was England's war policy to stop all ships from trading in French seaports.  To make sure that American ships were not taking war supplies to France, British warships stopped them on the ocean and British sailors went on board to search the cargo.

French warships did the same.  If the French or British found enemy cargo on board, the ship might be sunk or captured.  Dozens of American ships were lost that way, and thousands of dollars' worth of goods were lost with every ship.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Guerriere: Captured By a Captured Ship

Wikipedia.

38-gun, 5th rate frigate, originally in French Navy. Launched 1803 and, at time of capture, was attacking British and Russian whalers in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Greenland.

On July 19, 1806, forced to surrender to HMS Blanche and commissioned by the British as the HMS Guerriere and served in the West Indies and off the American coast. Captured by the Constitution August 19, 1812.

Had the ship not been so damaged in the battle and sunk, it might have also served in the U.S. Navy, making twice she was captured and three navies she served.

Of interest, the HMS Blanche, was formerly the 5th rate frigate Amfitrite in the Spanish Navy which had been captured by the 74-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Donegal off Spain 25 November 1804.

Also of interest, the United States laynched its own USS Guerriere, named after the British/French one in 1815, the first frigate built by the country since 1801.

The Story of Some Ships. --Brock-Perry