Hired armed schooner Princess Charlotte facts for kids
The Princess Charlotte was the name given to at least two, and possibly three, sailing ships that the Royal Navy used during the Napoleonic Wars. These ships were called "hired armed vessels" because the Navy rented them from private owners and used them for military tasks. They were a type of ship known as a schooner, which is a fast sailing ship with two or more masts.
The First Princess Charlotte
The first Princess Charlotte served the Royal Navy from July 1804 to 1805. This schooner was about 95 tons in size, which was a way to measure how big a ship was back then. It was armed with eight 12-pounder carronades, which were powerful, short-barreled cannons. The ship belonged to Henshaw Latham and had a crew of 30 sailors.
In December 1804, the Princess Charlotte, led by Captain Husband, helped rescue another ship called the Golden Grove. The Golden Grove was a British brig (another type of sailing ship) that had been caught in a terrible storm while sailing from Tortola to London. The storm was so strong that it ripped away all of her sails and broke her top mast. When the Princess Charlotte found her, only the captain and two other men were left to try and control the damaged ship. The Princess Charlotte safely towed the Golden Grove into Cowes, a port on the Isle of Wight.
The Second Princess Charlotte
It's possible that the second Princess Charlotte was the same ship as the first one, just serving a bit later. Records show a Princess Charlotte listed between 1805 and 1806, and another one in 1807. Both of these were also schooners.
The Naval Chronicle, a newspaper from that time, mentioned that a "small schooner called the Princess Charlotte" was commanded by Captain Wilkins. This ship had six carronades and was used as a "hired tender." A tender is a smaller ship that helps a larger warship or a fleet. This Princess Charlotte was meant to work with the famous Admiral Sir Sidney Smith. Captain Henry Wilkins was not a Navy officer but a civilian who had previously commanded another hired ship.
What happened to the Princess Charlotte after the Navy finished renting her is not clearly known from available records.
