HMS Foxhound was the French Navy's brig Basque, launched in 1809, that the British Royal Navy captured in 1809 and took into service as a 16-gun sloop. She had a relatively brief naval career in which she captured a number of merchant vessels. After the Navy sold her in 1816, she made some 10 or 11 whaling voyages between 1817 and 1848.
French career and capture
Basque was a Curieux-class (or possibly Sylphe-class) brig. From 26 March 1809 she was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Maillard-Liscourt, and stationed in the Gulf of Gascony.
On 11 November 1809, , Captain Sir William Bolton, encountered Basque. Basque was able to fend-off an attack by Druids boats, but two days later, on 13 November, Druid succeeded in capturing Basque. Basque was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 112 men. She was sailing from Bayonne to Guadeloupe with a cargo of flour and other stores.
Basque was on her maiden voyage, and in company with her sister-ship Béarnais. The Royal Navy took Basque into service as HMS Foxhound. captured Béarnais about a month later, off Guadeloupe. The Royal Navy took Béarnais into service as .
Royal Navy service
Foxhound spent almost a year (28 November 1809 to 16 October 1810) at Plymouth undergoing repair. Commander Malcolm Cowan commissioned her in July 1810.
In 1810 Commander John Parrish replaced Cowan as Foxhound served in the English Channel. Parrish was captain on 19 December when she recaptured Nostra Senora del Carmen. The French privateer Dart, of 14 guns and 100 men, had captured Nostra Senora del Carmen, Seleido, master, on the 19th as she was sailing from London to Lisbon. Foxhound sent her into Plymouth, where she ran ashore with two feet of water in her hold.
A year later, Foxhound recaptured the brig Samuel on 2 December 1811. Samuel, Newsom, master, had been sailing from Lisbon to London when a French privateer had captured her on 30 November.
Foxhound towed into Plymouth on 11 January the whaler Ceres, Greenway, master. She had been returning to London from the South Seas when Foxhound found her dismasted and in distress off the coast of France.
On 24 December 1812, Foxhound recaptured Harmony, and the next day Catherine. The French privateer Augusta had captured both. Catherine, Blyth, master, had been sailing from Suriname to London, and Harmony, Gallop, master, had been sailing from Newfoundland to Poole. The recaptured vessels arrived at Plymouth on 1 and 2 January 1813. Augusta had captured another merchantmen that had recaptured.
Foxhound captured two American vessels: schooner Terrible on 8 February, and brig Weazle on 25 March. Terrible, of 200 tons (bm) and 13 men, had been sailing from New York to Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton and potash. Terrible arrived at Plymouth on 12 February. Weazle arrived at Plymouth on 1 April.
On 27 November Foxhound captured Sophia. Sophia was a Prussian ship sailing from Bordeaux; detained, she arrived at Plymouth on 6 December.
Towards the end of the year, on 18 December, Foxhound recaptured General Kempt and her cargo. General Kempt (or General Kemp), Jenkins, master, had been sailing from Quebec to Liverpool with a cargo of timber when the American privateer Grand Turk captured her. Weazle arrived at Plymouth on 1 April.
On 27 May 1814, Foxhound, still under Parrish's command, recaptured Margaret. The American privateer had captured Margaret as she was sailing to Britain from Lisbon.
Commander Thomas Warrand replaced Parrish in November 1814. Foxhound then transported half the 14th Regiment of Foot from Plymouth to Ostend. After the Battle of Waterloo, in June and early July 1815 Foxhound joined with to convoy transports between Deal and Ramsgate, and Ostend, and back. The transports brought back some 8,000 French prisoners. Foxhound was then employed in secret services off Calais, and "in other ways".
On 22 August Foxhound left deal for Sheerness, to be paid off. Warrand paid her off in September.
Disposal
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Foxhound brig, of 348 tons", lying at Sheerness, for sale on 23 November 1815. The Navy sold Foxhound on 15 February 1816 for £800.
Whaler
Foxhound proceeded to make ten or 11 whaling voyages between 1817 and 1848. The first eight were for Birnie & Co. and the last two or three were for Wilson & Co.
1st whaling voyage (1817–1819): Captain Watson (or Walker) left Britain on 12 June 1817 bound for New South Wales and the whaler fishery. Foxhound was reported to have been there on 19 October 1817. She returned to Britain on 29 October 1819 with 460 casks of whale oil.