HMS Atalanta (1814)

HMS Atalanta was the American letter of marque schooner Siro, launched in 1812, that the British captured in 1814. There is no evidence that she actually entered into active service with the Royal Navy. She was a merchant brig when the  captured her in September 1814 and sent her into Savannah as a prize, where she was condemned and sold.

Letter of Marque
Siro was built by William Flanagan, reportedly at a cost of US$40,000, and launched in 1812 at Baltimore for her owner George Stiles. She was a relatively expensive vessel, having been made of the finest materials.

On her first trip her captain was Henry Levely. In the autumn of 1812 she was sailing to France when she captured , of ten guns, which was carrying specie worth US$23,500, and a cargo of indigo. Loyal Sam had been on her way from Nassau for Britain when Siro captured her. Siro sent her prize into Portland, and arrived there herself soon after. However, the British recaptured Loyal Sam.

In 1814 Siro was on a voyage under the command of Captain D. Gray and off the coast of Ireland. She was carrying a cargo of cotton to Bordeaux, with the intent to engage in privateering after having landed her cargo.

On 13 January  captured Siro after a chase of 12 hours. She was only about two years old so the Royal Navy took Siro into service as Atalanta, and even though Pelican had to share the prize money with , she proved to be a valuable prize. Captain Thomas Mansell described Siro in a letter as being pierced for 16 guns though carrying twelve 9-pounders, and new and a fast sailer. She had apparently already escaped several British cruisers through superior sailing.

British service
The Royal Navy registered Siro as Atalanta, but the prize may have been sold before commissioning her as there appears to be no record of a commissioning.,

Her new owners were the Liverpool merchants Berkely (or Barclay), Salkeld & Co., who converted her to a brig. She entered Lloyd's Register for 1814 with R. Jackson, master, Bartle & Co. owners, and trade Liverpool–Bordeaux.

Her owners had cotton plantations in Pensacola. She sailed from Liverpool on 14 August to Bordeaux. There a French merchant, M. Foussat, chartered her and put aboard a cargo for Pensacola.

On 21 September 1814 the USS Wasp was about 75 miles east of Madeira when she captured Atalanta, which was described as a British brig of eight guns and 19 men, carrying a commercial cargo. Master Commandant Johnston Blakeley, the captain of Wasp, deemed Atalanta too valuable to destroy. Instead he placed her under the command of Midshipman David Geisinger and sent her home to the United States. She entered Savannah, Georgia, safely on 4 November 1814. She had been bringing back a cargo of brandy, wine, and silk from Bordeaux to Pensacola. In his letter to the Secretary of War, Geisinger describes Atalanta as the former American schooner Siro, which Pelican had captured in the Bay of Biscay. Unfortunately, Blakeley took Atalantas captain, mate and supercargo, all of whom were lost shortly thereafter when Wasp disappeared at sea.

The capture gave rise to a case before the Supreme Court of the United States over the status of a cargo owned by a neutral though carried in a vessel belonging to the enemy

Notes, citations, and references
Notes

Citations

References
 Coggeshall, George (1856) History of the American privateers, and letters-of-marque, during our war with England in the years 1812, '13 and '14. Interspersed with several naval battles between American and British ships-of-war. (The author)
 Cranwell, John Philips, and William Bowers Crane (1940) Men of Marque. ( New York: W.W Norton & Company).
 Curtis, Benjamin Robbins (1855) Reports of decisions in the Supreme Court of the United States. Volumes 3 & 4 (Little, Brown)
 Footner, Geoffrey M. (1998) Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner. (Naval Institute Press).  
 Garitee, Jerome R. (1977) The Republic's private navy: the American privateering business as practiced by Baltimore during the War of 1812. (Published for Mystic Seaport by Wesleyan University Press).  
 Harris, Graham, and Les MacPhie (2005) Oak Island And Its Lost Treasure. (Formac).  
 Maclay, Edgar Stanton (1900) A history of American privateers. (Sampson, Low, Marston & co,).
 Marshall, John (1823-1835) Royal naval biography, or, Memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers, superannuated rear-admirals, retired-captains, post-captains, and commanders, whose names appeared on the Admiralty list of sea officers at the commencement of the present year 1823, or who have since been promoted ... (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown).
 Neeser, Robert Wilden (1909) Statistical and chronological history of the United States navy, 1775-1907, Vol.2. (Macmillan). 
 

Category:Schooners of the Royal Navy
Category:Privateer ships of the United States
Category:Captured ships
Category:1812 ships