Qualla: HMS Renard (1797)

HMS Renard (1797): Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

She began her life as a predator and ended it on the auction block. The French privateer Renard -- the Fox -- was copper-bottomed, fast, and barely months old when HMS Cerberus caught her in the English Channel in November 1797, along with her consort Epervier. Pierced for twenty guns and carrying eighteen six-pounders with a crew of 189 men, Renard was exactly the kind of vessel the Royal Navy loved to capture: nimble enough to chase down prizes, tough enough to fight when cornered. The Navy took her into service under her French name, and for the next twelve years she prowled the waters between the Channel and the Caribbean, accumulating a record of captures, recaptures, and one unforgettable afternoon of fire and destruction.

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HMS Renard (1797): From Prize to Predator

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Renard arrived at Plymouth in January 1799 and sat idle for six months before the Navy began fitting her out. Commander Peter Spicer commissioned her in August 1799 for Channel duty, and she wasted little time making herself useful. In December 1800, working alongside Suffisante ...

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HMS Renard (1797): The Caribbean Station

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In May 1802, Renard sailed for the Leeward Islands under Commander Charles Gregory, beginning the Caribbean chapter that would define her service. Command changed hands with unsettling frequency: Gregory to Pearson, Pearson to William Cathcart by October. Between 1803 and 1804, R...

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HMS Renard (1797): Forty-Five Minutes of Fire

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 20 March 1805, somewhere in the Caribbean, Renard sighted a ship to the northwest. Coghlan gave chase. As Renard closed the distance, the stranger shortened sail and prepared to fight. At 2:20 in the afternoon, Renard opened fire. Thirty-five minutes into the engagement, the F...

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HMS Renard (1797): The Prudent Frenchman

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Coghlan's finest anecdote came not from cannon fire but from conversation. On 28 May 1806, after a grueling sixty-four-hour chase through the Puerto Rico channel, Renard overtook the French Navy brig Diligent. Armed with fourteen six-pounders, two brass carronades, and 125 men, D...

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HMS Renard (1797): Last Voyages and the Auction Block

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Coghlan transferred to another command in mid-1807, and Renard's remaining service was quieter. She captured the Danish vessel Peder and Anna in October 1807 and arrived at Deal with three other ships from Honduras shortly after. By December 1808, the Commissioners of the Navy we...

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