HMS Nimble, 14 guns, Cutter, 1812
£15.00
Warships of the Royal Navy Sail 1765-1838
In stock
Description
The cutter rig was developed outside the navy, among the working and fishing craft around the coast. By 1793 cutters had begun to appear in the navy and at the beginning of the 19th century about 100 cutters were in commission. The sail plan appears very large, but a great amount of area was required to drive the broad-beamed heavily built hull through the water. Nimble had a beam of 24 feet on an overall length of 69 feet. Many of these vessels were employed by the Revenue service where their speed and weatherliness made them ideal for combating the great numbers of small craft engaged in smuggling during the period of the French wars and later. Shortage of oak in the latter years of the Napoleonic wars led to many of these cutters being built of pine or cedar. Nimble was a cutter commissioned under Lieutenant John Reynolds in 1812 that was wrecked on a sunken rock a half-dozen miles from the Sälö Beacon, Sweden, during a violent storm in the Kattegat on 6 October 1812. Apparently, insufficient allowance had been made for the strong currents.
Additional information
| Weight | 0.022 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 43.1 × 35.6 cm |