Maritime record TR 23 NW 838 - Hms Defender

Under orders to proceed to Spithead in worsening weather conditions, she sailed south towards Dungeness, where it became clear that she would not be able to weather the point. She therefore turned back north towards Folkestone, and during the afternoon of 13-DEC, anchored off the town, awaiting favourable weather. During the early hours of the following day, her anchor cable parted, as did a second 30 minutes later. Strong winds blew her down towards the town, until she went ashore. The local Sea Fencibles came to her assistance, so that most of her stores were saved, but with her bottom torn away, and beyond repair, she was abandoned as a total wreck. (1)(4)

In a severe gale from the south, her bower anchors parted on foul ground, and she drifted over a complete bay of rocks, ending up on rocks on Cob [sic] Point half a mile to the eastward of Folkestone, where she was found to be not worth the cost of repair. (2)

Vessel a gun brig of the Archer class. (3)

14 December, DEFENDER, gunbrig. The DEFENDER was a gunbrig mounting 14 guns and commanded by Lt. John George Nops, when she was driven ashore under Cob [sic] Point, near Folkestone, and became a total loss. The ship's crew, about 50 men, were saved. (5)

Built: 1804
Builder: Courtney
Where Built: Chester
Armament: 10 cannon; 12 (1); 14 (5)
Master: Lt. John George Nops RN
Crew: 50
Owner: Royal Navy

Date of Loss Qualifier: A

Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index:
List of HM Ships Lost from all causes other than by the Enemy, 1800-1891, Parliamentary Papers I item 22 p9; SRN.Vol.1 p156; PRO.Kew.ADM. 1/5400 (Courts Martial)

Additional sources cited in Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras:
Steel's List of the Royal Navy, 1811

<1> British Warship losses in the Age of Sail 1650-1859 (Monograph). SKE6713.

<2> Terence Grocott, 1998, Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras (Monograph). SKE56129.

<3> The Sailing Navy List: all the ships of the Royal Navy built, purchased and captured 1688-1860 (Monograph). SKE6712.

<4> Larn, Richard and Bridget, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames (Bibliographic reference). SKE31910.

<5> Terence Grocott, 1998, Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras (Monograph). SKE56129.