HM Schooner Grecian - Roy Cross RSMA

Original painting in acrylic on board.

Image Size: 22 x 15 inches, signed lower right, framed.

Acknowledged as one of the handsomest schooners in the Royal Navy, Grecian was a sharp and fast American letter-of-marque vessel, built in Baltimore in 1813 by the Thomas Kemp shipyard.
She was captured at anchor by a boat party of HMS Jaseur at daybreak on 2nd May 1814. Sent to England to be surveyed at Portsmouth where her lines were taken off and she was prepared for Navy service armed with eight 18-pounder carronades and two six-pounders, with a crew of 60.
An almost unique design feature were the curious arched gunports permitting a low freeboard. Commissioned October 1815 under Lieut. Henry Jewry and then Lieut. Nathaniel Martin for multifarious duties, she was sold at Portsmouth in 1822 for the handsome sum of £510. The painting is based on the hull lines and sailplan available at the National Maritime Museum.

A larger photograph is available on request.