HMS Avenger (1803)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Elizabeth
Builder	Bridlington
Launched	1801
Fate	Sold 1803
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Avenger
Acquired	1803 by purchase
Fate	Wrecked 5 December 1803
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Flush-decked ship-sloop
Tons burthen	206,[2] or 26371⁄94 (bm)
Length	96 ft 6 in (29.4 m) (overall); 77 ft 3 in (23.5 m) (keel)
Beam	25 ft 4 in (7.7 m)
Complement	80
Armament	14 × 24-pounder carronades

HMS Avenger was a sloop-of-war, previously the civilian vessel Elizabeth, launched in 1801 at Bridlington. The British Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and commissioned her in October 1803 under Commander Francis Snell. but she foundered in Heligoland Bight, off the Weser, on 5 December 1803; the crew were saved.^[3]

Avenger had been stationed off the German coast to blockade the Elbe River. She took on board a pilot who proceeded, with confidence, to steer her south despite soundings indicating shallowing water. After she grounded, attempts were made to get her off, but they failed. Fishing vessels came up and took off the crew.^[4]

The court-martial on 18 January 1804 at Sheerness acquitted Commander Snell, his officers, and his crew of the loss of their vessel, but reprimanded the pilot for his ignorance.^[5] As the pilot had disappeared soon after landing,^[4] this judgment presumably had no effect on him.

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.