► Royal Navy ► Vessels
Browse RN vessels: A; B; C; D; E - F; G - H; I - L; M; N - P; Q - R; S; T - U; V - Z; ??
| Name | Mutine (1844) | Explanation | |
| Type | Brig | ||
| Launched | 20 April 1844 | ||
| Hull | Wooden | ||
| Propulsion | Sail | ||
| Builders measure | 428 tons | ||
| Displacement | |||
| Guns | 12 | ||
| Fate | 1848 | ||
| Class | |||
| Ships book | |||
| Note | 1848.12.21 wrecked in a gale near Venice (5 lost) | ||
| Snippets concerning this vessels career | |||
| Date | Event | ||
| 7 September 1844 - 11 August 1846 | Commanded by Commander Richard Borough Crawford, Cape of Good Hope | ||
| 6 October 1846 - 27 October 1847 | Commanded (from commissioning at Chatham) by Commander Robert Tryon, Mediterranean | ||
| 26 October 1847 - 21 December 1848 | Commanded by Commander John Jervis Palmer, Mediterranean (until the vessel was lost in a gale near Venice) | ||
| Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
| Date | Extract | ||
| Ma 25 September 1843 | PORTSMOUTH, Sept. 23. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have ordered six brigs of a new class to be built. They are to carry 12 guns each, and are to be employed in the suppression of the slave trade instead of the old 10-gun brigs. Their names are to be, — the Flying Fish, Kingfisher, Mutine, Espiegle, Daring, and Osprey. The Kingfisher and Flying Fish are to be built at Pembroke, according to the plan of the Surveyor of the Navy; the Mutine and Espiegle are to be built at Chatham by Mr. Fincham, the Master-builder of the Dockyard there; and the Daring and Osprey are to be built at this dockyard, under the superintendence of Mr. White, of Cowes, the constructor of the Waterwitch. They are all to be of the same tonnage, and to carry the same masts and spars, armament, and stores. They are to be ready for launching by next May; and, as soon as they are completed for sea, they are to have a trial cruise previous to going on a foreign station. Their armament is to consist of 12 32-pounders, medium guns, which they will have instead of the carronades which brigs usually carry. | ||
| Tu 2 January 1849 | The following is an extract from a letter written by an officer on board Her Majesty's ship Ardent, dated Trieste, Dec. 24,1848— "We are here on a sad occasion, just arrived from Venice (where we are stationed), with the surviving crew of the brig Mutine, which was lost on the 21st off Venice. Only five lives were lost, four officers and one marine; it is a perfect miracle that so many were saved considering the dreadfully severe weather we have had. A great many are frost bitten, but it is hoped all will recover." | ||
| We 3 January 1849 | THE LOSS OF THE MUTINE. The following is an extract from a letter, containing a more detailed account of the loss of the Mutine. The letter is datedVenice, Dec. 24,1848. Fearful that exaggerated reports may reach home, I write by the earliest opportunity to inform you of the wreck of the Mutine, which took place on the 21st at Palestrina, about 10 miles from Venice, in one of the heaviest gales of wind (commonly called "Boras" in this part of the world) I ever saw. Fortunately every one has been saved, with the exception of four officers and one marine, viz., Edward Whiting (acting mate), drowned in a most gallant attempt to get on shore in the dingy with a line; H.E. Charlton (acting mate), dead from exhaustion and intense cold; James Burke (assistant-surgeon), whose death was caused in a similar manner; James Dowse (carpenter), who fell out of the bowline-knot as they were hauling him on shore, and was drowned; and Edward James (private, Royal Marines), found frozen to death under the forecastle. How so many were saved appears to be almost miraculous, after being exposed nearly 30 hours to the most dreadful weather; the cold being so intense that the seas froze on everything as they came on board. Many are suffering severely from their hands and feet being frostbitten. It is impossible to speak too highly of the kindness and hospitality evinced by the inhabitants and authorities of Palestrina, who seized officers and men as they were landed, and carried them up into the houses, actually giving up their own beds, and supplying them with warm drinks; and, in fact, doing everything their dearest friends could have done for them. The ship is now lying within 20 yards of the shore (having beaten over three quarters of a mile of shoal water), with her masts and rudder gone, and back broken. It is expected we shall save the greater part of the things on board, though there is no hope for the ship.The people on board were landed by means of a hawser run out to the shore, with a bowline-knot and hauling-line. | ||
| We 10 January 1849 | THE LOSS OF THE MUTINE. "When the Mutine struck she had 108 hands on board, of whom only five, thank God! perished — namely, two mates — Charlton, who was frozen to death, and Whiting, dashed to pieces in attempting most bravely to swim ashore with a hawser; one assistant-surgeon, who died on the night of the 21st; a marine, who shared his fate, vowing that he preferred trusting to Providence, rather than to the bowline by which the communication with the shore was effected; and the carpenter, who was drowned owing to the weight of 40 dollars, from which he would not part, as they were destined as a present for his wife. All hands had been landed by half-past 6 o’clock p.m. on the 21st, with the exception of these five individuals, and also of the boatswain’s mate, the first lieutenant (Curtis), and the master, these two last refusing to leave the brig whilst a single human being remained on board alive; and as they were unable to induce the assistant-surgeon and the marine to trust themselves to the bowline, these two gallant officers, finding all the cabins filling, withdrew to pass the night on the lower deck, and there, seated on the armourer’s bench, they calmly awaited their fate during 15 hours, benumbed, half frozen, fasting, and the storm raging with unabated fury both above and below them. "On the morning of Friday, the 22d, they went on the main-deck, and finding the assistant-surgeon and the marine dead, they considered themselves the sole survivors on board, when to their surprise the boatswain's mate came and reported himself, he having passed that awful night in the midshipman’s berth. "When, the brig first struck the gallant Mr. Whiting exclaimed in the gayest tone, 'Now, my chips, who volunteers for a boat - we will save them all!' Three seamen instantly joined him, and though the boat capsized, they got safe on shore with the line, excepting Mr. Whiting, whose brains were dashed out against the 'Murazzi.' His body was recognized by a severe wound in the arm, yet unhealed, which he had received shortly before at Trieste, in the following manner:-There was a broil on the quay, and a foreign seaman gashed his arm most severely; the purser knocked the assassin into the water, and then Whiting, wounded as he was, perceiving that the fellow could not swim, dashed into the sea and held him up until assistance came." | ||
Top↑
 |