HMS Terror (1759)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Terror and List of ships named Union.

History
Great Britain
Name| HMS Terror
Ordered| 21 September 1758
Builder| John Barnard, Harwich
Laid down| 7 October 1758
Launched| 16 January 1759
Fate| Sold 9 August 1774
Notes| Hackman conflates this Union with the Union that had been Squirrel[1]
Great Britain
Name| Union
Owner|

* c.1775:Peter Mestaer
* 1776:J.Montgomery

Acquired| 1774 by purchase
Fate| Wrecked 20 May 1782
General characteristics [2]
Class and type| Infernal-class bomb ketch
Tons burthen| 30183⁄94 or 305, or 315 (bm)
Length|

* Overall:91 ft 6 in (27.9 m)
* Keel:74 ft 1+3⁄4 in (22.6 m)

Beam| 27 ft 8 in (8.4 m)
Depth of hold| 12 ft 1 in (3.7 m)
Complement|

* RN bomb ketch:60
* RN sloop:110

Armament|

* RN bomb ketch: 6 × 6-pounder guns + 1 × 10" & 1 × 13" mortars
* RN sloop: 14 × 6-pounder guns + 14 swivel guns
* 1782:16 × 6-pounder guns

Plan of the Terror

HMS Terror was an 8-gun bomb ketch launched in 1759 for the British Royal Navy that it sold in 1774. New owners renamed her Union. She made two voyages as a Greenland whaler before becoming a London-based transport. She remained a transport until she was lost on 20 May 1782 off the Malabar coast of India.

## Royal Navy

[edit]

Commander William Bennet commissioned Terror in January 1759 and sailed for the Mediterranean on 14 April. Commander Michael Kearny replaced Bennett in August. In April 1861 Commander St John Chinnery replaced Kearny, with Terror still serving in the Mediterranean. She was converted to a sloop in 1761 and then back to a bomb in 1762. she was paid-off in March 1763. She then underwent repairs but apparently was not recommissioned.[2]

Disposal: Terror was sold on 9 August 1774 at Deptford for £665.[2]

## Mercantile service

[edit]

In the 1775 and 1776 whaling seasons, Union was engaged in the British northern whale fishery. On 12 June 1775 Union was at Greenland with two "fish".

On 2 August 1776 Union, Hudson, master, arrived at Gravesend from Greenland with four fish and 50 seals.[3]

Union first appeared in online issues of Lloyd's Register (LR) in the issue for 1776.[4]

Year  | Master  | Owner  | Trade  | Source & notes

|
|
|
|

1776  | John Dryden
John Hudson  | Peter Mestaer | London–Greenland
London transport  | LR; thorough repair 1775
1778  | J.Hudson  | J.Montgomery  | Cork transport  | LR; thorough repair 1775
1783  | Crawford  | Montgomery  | London transport  | LR; thorough repair 1775

## Fate

[edit]

Lloyd's List reported on 8 July 1783 that the transports Union and Prudence had been lost near Tellicherry.[5] The entry for Union in the volume for LR for 1783 bore the annotation "Lost".[6]

The wrecking occurred on 20 May 1782. Union and Prudence were serving as ordnance store ships when a storm drove them from Calicut roads. They were unable to clear Cotta Point and wrecked on the reefs there.[7]

## Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Hackman (2001), p. 245.
2. ^ a b c Winfield (2007), p. 343.
3. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 769, Ship arrival and departure (SAD) data. 6 August 1776. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049059.
4. ^ [1] LR (1776), Seq. №16.
5. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 1479\. 8 July 1783. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049062.
6. ^ [2] LR (1783), Seq.№U15.
7. ^ Horsburgh (1852), p. 481, fn.

## References

[edit]

* Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.
* Horsburgh, James (1852). India Directory, Or Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope, Brazil and the Interjacent Ports. Vol. 1\. Kingsburg.
* Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.