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Further Reading about H.M. Schooner "Pickle", carrying the news of the Battle of Trafalgar
"I have Urgent Dispatches"
A brief History of H M Schooner Pickle (Dec 1800 to 27 July 1808) - a 'clever, fast schooner, coppered'. The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, added her prestige to the journey of the Trafalgar Despatch, re enacted 200 years later as a commemoration of International importance. The Pickle arrived off Falmouth, Cornwall, on the 4th of November 1805. A date still celebrated in the Royal Navy and elsewhere including the New York Yacht Club as "Pickle Night". Here in "I have urgent dispatches" "Pickle" is shown on the 1,000 mile voyage for home, battling the great gales which followed the Battle of Trafalgar. "Pickle" sighted another ship which gave chase; she turned out to be "HMS Nautilus". Her crew are shown in the process of reducing sail, each is modelled on a friend of the artist, except one of the figures is a self portrait. "Pickle" commenced signalling her dramatic news by flying the 1805 code signal flags 2214; "I have urgent dispatches" (then a new code devised by Admiral Popham and capable of conveying over 3000 words and phrases). Each print of this, a limited number edition, is individually made to order and supervised by the artist, order your copy from our Print Gallery now or regret at leisure! The edition is limited to 750 but if the artist dies, no more signatures = no more prints, order yours now!
In his research of the history of HMS Pickle Gordon Frickers has encountered many conflicting opinions. The following is based upon a careful survey of the best available evidence in England, France, the USA and Spain. He gives a different perspective of HM Schooner Pickle in both the paintings and the "further reading" accompanying his other Pickle painting "Nelson's Pickle, first with the news"
PICKLE. H M Schooner, historyOrigin; The Royal Navy purchase price for this ship was £2,500, for a 'clever, fast schooner, coppered' but no decisive information as to her origin is apparent. The armed cutter STING, probably built at Plymouth, Devon a few years pre 1800, second choice of origin Bermuda (often confused with the schooner Pickle built at Bermuda in 1820), third choice the West coast of the US of A. Naval records say she was built as Sting, renamed 1802, Pickle. Wrecked1808. Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, C in C Jamaica purchased her as the Sting in December 1800. October 1801 Sting returned to Portsmouth with the body of Seymour under the command of Lieut Thomas Thrush, formerly 5th of the Sans Pareil. Until about this date, the first Pickle, an 'armed tender' had been active in the Caribbean. Sting was registered by Admiralty Order of 19/02/01 as tender to the Sans Pareil, Seymour's flagship. The older vessel, the 'armed tender' Pickle reappears briefly in the Navy List as late as in 1804, but her fate is unknown. By Admiralty Order of 04/01/02 Sting was 'renamed' Pickle The tone of the Admiralty's order to the Navy Board suggests more than anything a testy response to earlier confusion over names (see notes on the possibility of 2 Pickles and 2 Stings.) Pickle was cruising the Channel in early 1802, but in April Thrush was promoted Commander. This was the period of the Peace of Amiens, and perhaps the time at which Pickle was surveyed and to some extent refitted to Navy standards: specific dimensions (73ft (22.25m) on the gun deck, 20ft (6.096m) beam, 9.5 ft (2.896m) depth in hold for a tonnage of 127t) are regularly given, but un-sourced. Neither of the names has been found in fleet lists at this period. May/June 1802 Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere (perhaps the most misspelled name in the Navy) was appointed to command, and at that time both a Sting and a Pickle are named operating from Portsmouth - perhaps a confusion of a recently renamed vessel? 1802 Plymouth, Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere commonly misspelt Lieut. PELLETIER's command was first used as a dispatch vessel. She sailed to Malta, a voyage to the Mediterranean, in October 1802 returning the 16 February following. Previously she had and touched at Gibraltar for water, making the voyage in 14 days. After waiting on Admiral DACRES, Lieut. PELLETIER took a post-chaise and four and set off for the Admiralty while Pickle was put into quarantine in Coney Cove, Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth. She had left the island six weeks. By Admiralty Order of 20/04/03 her armourment & complement were changed. After, she was usually based at Plymouth until the end of her career, and employed with the Channel Fleet in the blockade of Brest, France, through 1803 and 1804. Life was intimate and hard on a naval schooner. Many sailors spoke of being constantly wet. On two separate occasions crew members were court-martialled for mutinous conduct (SNEEDON on 03/10/03; and BOSWELL July 1804 - 26/07 'a seaman' was flogged round the fleet at Plymouth). 1803 Lieut. John LAPENOTIERE, Channel. Pickle sailed from Plymouth on the 15 October 1803 to cruise in the Channel and on the 22nd October 1803 she took the American vessel RESOLUTION. Pickle sailed from Plymouth again on 28 December and returned on 31 January 1804 having lost her main-topmast and foreyard in a gale on the 19th January. 22 February 1804 she sailed for Admiral CORNWALLIS with dispatches. On 25/26 March 1804 Pickle was present at the loss of the MAGNIFICENT, 74. A ship of the line of battle which was wrecked in a violent tempest on an uncharted rock near Pierres Noires, Brest. That 74 guns ship, commanded by Captain W H Jervis, Earl St Vincent's nephew and heir, had been lying at anchor near the Black Rocks off Brest, and in attempting to get under way between 8 and 9 in the morning of the 25 March 1804, struck upon an unknown shoal of rocks. Within an hour the water was up to her orlop deck and nothing remained to be done except rescue the crew. The boats of Pickle and FOX were alongside soon after she struck and at great risk in the squalls and swell assisted in the rescue of survivors. The Indefatigable and L'Aigle anchored on the bows of the Magnificent, and the Pickle and Fox, cutter, on her starboard quarter. Every man was got off by 10.30 am, they took out her people just before the Magnificent rolled over and sank. COLOSSUS brought them back to Plymouth. On 26 July 1804, a signal having been made aboard the flag-ship in the Hamoaze, a seaman from Pickle attended by the boats of the fleet manned and armed, was flogged around the fleet in the Hamoaze and Plymouth Sound for mutiny. A seaman from DORIS was flogged at the same time for maiming a shipmate with intent to kill him. Pickle left Ferrol in September. In October the same year Pickle captured two French coasters off Brest, loaded with supplies for the fleet at Brest and brought them into Plymouth. On the 1 October 1804, the Pickle came in to Plymouth with 2 Chasse Maree's - French coasting vessels more usually employed hunting fish, - laden with wine, brandy, and wheat destined for the French fleet at Brest. They had been driven in to a bay by the Pickle and then boarded and brought out by her boats.
On 3rd January 1805 Pickle made the return passage from Ferrol to Plymouth with important dispatches from Rear-Ad. COCHRANE in just 49 hours, this was considered a very fast passage. The 98-gun NEPTUNE arrived the same day after taking ten days over the same passage, but she had been delayed by earlier gales. In early 1805 Pickle made a voyage to Jamaica, where a new Master, the American born George ALMY came on board, said to originate from Newport Rhode Island, and she returned to Plymouth in May. After voyages to Lisbon and Gibraltar, Pickle joined Nelson's fleet off Trafalgar on 1 October 1805, having taken an American brig Indefatigable en route. Prize money in this capture was authorised for payment in April 1807. Her actions for the next three weeks are well known. She was much mentioned by Nelson during that month. Nelson described her as "ubiquitous" In October 1805, she captured a Portuguese settee - a single decked vessel used as a transport - which was carrying a much needed cargo of bullocks from Tangier to the French and Spanish ships at Cadiz. Reliable as ever she was reporting to Nelson all through the run up to the Battle of Trafalgar.
On Monday the 21st of October 1805 Pickle was attached to the Weather Division of the fleet under Vice- Adm. of the White Lord NELSON and was a spectator of the Battle of Trafalgar. By convention, as one of the 2 smallest ships present, she was not expected to engage. She appears and is easily recognised in the left corner of our painting Trafalgar Dawn At Trafalgar Pickle's crew typical for a British war ship, included many nationalities including a Frenchman and 3 Americans. Incidentally all three 'seaman' officers at the battle of Trafalgar were Devon men, "not a lot of people know that"! With ENTREPRENENTE and the boats of PRINCE GEORGE and SWIFTSURE, Pickle helped in the rescue of two women and about 200 men from the French 74 ACHILLE which caught fire during and exploded at the end of the battle of Trafalgar. Two or three seamen in the other boats were reported killed by the French guns going off as they became heated. A woman, the Frenchwoman 'Jeanette', has left us a dramatic account of her departure from the burning Achille. Edouard Desbriere who wrote an excellent account of "The Naval Campaign of 1805, Trafalgar (long out of print and now very valuable) from the French and Spanish official records tells us Jeanette was the wife of a maintop man stationed in the passage to the forward magazine, employed passing up cartridges. She stated all main deck ladders were shot away. Blazing wood fell down the hatches. Startled by heavy crashes she saw the main deck planking above her burning and some guns fell through. Terrified she ran aft to the gun ports and climbed through one of the ports then via the chains to the rudder, where she scrambled onto the curved after edge. Melting lead from the trunk lining dripped onto her neck & shoulders. Stripping off she jumped and swam to apiece of wreckage but the French man on it kicked her away. She found a smaller piece. Later another man put a large plank under her arms. Eventually she was rescued by a boat from HMS Pickle, whose crew were by then out-numbered 4 to 1 by French survivors they had rescued. They gave her a headscarf, jacket and a pair of seaman's trousers, also treated her burns. She recounted the number of men she had had to fight off when they tried to take her oar. Later her adventure became more incredible, ending very happily in her best interest. She was transferred to HMS Revenge 'looking a picture of misery & despair'. An officer noticed this dejected youth, made enquiries - realized it was a woman and from then her luck changed for the better. Jeanette was given an officer's cabin and material to make clothes including some from a Spanish prize. 4 days later her husband was found on board, unhurt and the couple were re united. She was not the only woman rescued from Achille.
Pickle took on board some 160 French seamen after the destruction of the Achille, including the naked Frenchwoman 'Jeanette'. An attempt by the French to take over the vessel was quashed. The prisoners in Pickle, three times the number of the crew, were heard plotting to take over the ship and carry her into Cadiz so a particularly sharp watch was kept over them. Most of the prisoners were subsequently transferred; two remained with Pickle until her return to England. Who they were and why is not apparent. After the battle and the storm, she left the fleet on 26 October with Collingwood's public dispatches. It was unusual for so junior an officer to be selected for this prestigious duty; although there is a family story which accounts for it, Collingwood's order makes clear that he selected the fastest vessel available, also he owed Lapenotière a favour. Pickle sailed deep into the Atlantic as there were still many French ships at sea. During a storm her logs record her springing a leak, serious enough to force the jettisoning of her guns (no casual decision if only for the attendant paperwork). She also sighted another ship which gave chase and fortunately turned out to be HMS Nautilus. They "spoke" by Popham's flag code. This is the moment the painting "I have urgent dispatches" records, sharply contrasting communication in 1805 with today. Nautilus immediately changed course for Lisbon, after which she sailed for Plymouth, arriving one day after Pickle. Our Pickle made landfall off the Lizard, Southern most point of Cornwall and England. In light airs Pickle crossed Mounts Bay where she spoke to some Cornish fishing luggers. The latter immediately returned to port so the town hall balcony of the remote tiny Cornish village of Mousehole (pronounced "mowsawll") is by local tradition the first place in Britain to hear the news and still commemorates the event. Pickle hove to in light airs in Falmouth Bay, 10 days, 1,500 miles and an average speed of 6.5 knots from Trafalgar, having crossed the Bay of Biscay in stormy conditions. Her commander disembarked at Falmouth while Pickle continued to Plymouth commanded by her American Mate. Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere took an express post chaise to London. Today it is possible to follow the route including visiting all the Ale houses were horses were changed. The route is from 2005 marked on English Ordinance Survey maps as "The Trafalgar Way". Arriving in London, the First Sea Lord was awoken at 02.00, the King told early in the morning, a general announcement following immediately and bells rung though out the land. Many people said they did not know whether to celebrate the victory or cry for the loss of their hero. So there you have it, that is how typical early 19th century communications compare with today. Pickle brought home the remainder of Lord COLLINGWOOD's dispatches to Plymouth in fourteen days and two days later LAPENOTIERE delivered them to the Admiralty and was promptly promoted Commander on 6 November. Following his dramatic return to England Lapenotière was promoted out of his command, and eventually appointed to the sloop Orestes. The Committee of the Patriotic Fund presented him with a sword valued at 100 guineas.
1806- Lieut. Moses CANNADEY, attached to the Channel fleet. The next landmark in her career, now under the command of Lt Daniel Callaway, was the capture of the French privateer cutter Favorite of 14 guns on 3 January 1807. While some 15 miles off the Lizard, Favorite was being chased by SCORPION. Pickle closed the cutter and exchanged a few broadsides before boarding her. Favorite was commanded by E.J. Boutruche and out of her crew of 70 men one was killed and two wounded. Only two months old Favorite had left Cherbourg two days before and had not effected any captures before being taken by the Pickle and SCORPION. SCORPION came up and took off the prisoners and landed them at Falmouth. The Master at the battle of Trafalgar, George Almy, was severely wounded in this action. He was admitted to hospital and apparently never returned to duty. Two members of the crew, Sub Lt Charles Hawkins and Bosun's Mate James Rowden, slightly wounded, during the boarding survived to be awarded two clasps to the Naval General Service medal (issued in 1849), for the battle of Trafalgar and this single ship action, while Sub Lt John Kingdon and Surgeon Simon Gage Britton received the Trafalgar clasp alone. Her end was inglorious: under the command of Lt Moses CANNADEY, while carrying dispatches to Cadiz in bad weather, Pickle ran aground on the Chipiona Shoal 27 July 1808. She became a total loss, wrecked but there were no casualties. CANNADEY and his crew were saved. The despatches were eventually recovered by a Maltese diver. Collingwood, still the Commander-in-Chief, publicly commented on the alleged presence of a woman on board and the 'mischief' this must have caused, but in much lighter vein to his wife on the recovery of personal letters. Cannadey was court martialled on 2 August and reprimanded. If we could locate and dive her wreck we might prove from the timbers were she was built. This was discussed by Gordon Frickers at one time with the University of Cadiz but the Spanish were much disorganised and no funds were available so remains a project perhaps for you.
Working on "H.M. Schooner "Pickle", first with the news of the Battle of Trafalgar " was the beginning of a very close & exceptional co-operation between Gordon Frickers & Peter Goodwin, historian & keeper of "H.M.S. Victory", which included Gordon giving Peter a copy of his extensive notes on the history of "Pickle" and Peter including this picture ("H.M. Schooner "Pickle", first with the news of the Battle of Trafalgar ") in his book The Ships of Trafalgar. Gordon has also painted a second picture of HMS Pickle, " "Nelson's Pickle, first with the news" ".
These heritage paintings represent a unique unrepeatable moment in our lives and could only be possible with a determined artist. Gordon Frickers gives his special thanks to all who have so willingly contributed (mostly) freely, time, expertise, experience and made available access to sources, in particular, Col Robin McNish, Peter Goodwin, Jean Paul Cans, Michel Malgorn, Joel and Marie Therese Linquette, Derek Allen, Dr. Colin White, and John Smith. Gordon Frickers has produced a series of talks on Nelson and given 10 highly acclaimed 2 hour talks on Nelson as a role model. His first painting in this series was of the schooner HMS Pickle, entitled "I have urgent dispatches". We hope you have enjoyed the above? Maybe you can contribute more? Don't miss your chance now, order a copy of our splendid print "H.M. Schooner "Pickle", first with the news of the Battle of Trafalgar " from our Print Gallery and subscribe to our RSS news feed from our Navigate page.
A lively summary of Pickle can be found in "The Ships of Trafalgar" page 154 to 159, by Peter Goodwin, Conway Maritime Press. We think Peter Goodwin is the most dedicated and reliable of researcher, the most objective and consequently the foremost authority on this subject.
See also Trafalgar Roll and sailing Navy List. © Gordon Frickers, 4 November 1997.
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