In the archive of the Dutch family Van den Broek I found one black-white in pencil drawing which is quite interesting due to the fact that it represents a battle between an British and a Dutch warship. The description was 'Battle between the Tistle and the Havick during 3 hours 10 February 1810'. The Tistle is a miswriting for Thistle.
The next account of the battle (1) was published in William James in his The naval history, from the declaration by France etc. I have not been able yet to consult the account which seemed to exist and written by Buyskes who was on board when it happened.
P. 90: “On the 10th of February, at 10 h. 30m. A.m., latitude 25° 22’ north, longitude 61° 27’ west, the British 10-gun schooner Thistle (18-pounder carronades, with 50 men and boys), Lieutenant Peter Procter, steering north-east by north with the wind at south-east, discovered and chased a strange ship in the east south-east.(2) At 4 P.m., having by superiority of sailing neared the stranger considerably, the Thistle fired a gun and hoisted
p. 91: her colours. The example was immediately followed by the ship, which was the Dutch corvette Havik (3), Lieutenant de vaisseau Jean Séeling; a large India-built ship, pierced for 18 guns and mounting 10 (six long 4-pounders and four 2-pound swivels), with a complement of 52 men and boys, including the Batavian rear-admiral, Armand-Adrien Buyskes (4), late lieutenant governor and Commander-in-chief at Batavia, and his suite, bound from that port to New York, and partly laden with spices and indigo. At 5 P.m., which made just seven hours and a half from the commencement of the chase, the Thistle got alongside the Havik, and firing across her bows, hailed her to bring to. The reply to this was a broadside. The action immediately commenced, and was maintained with mutual spirit. At 6 h. 15 m. P.m., the Havik attempted to run the schooner down; but the latter, hauling aft her sheets, adroitly avoided the bows of her huge opponent. The Thistle, three of whose carronades had been dismounted since the early part of the action, continued closely engaging the Havik until 6 h. 45 m. P.m.; when the latter . made all sail and endeavoured to escape before the wind. This being the ship'’ best point of sailing, it was not until 7 h. 40 m. P.m. that the schooner got near enough to open her bow guns. Gradually advancing in the chase, the Thistle, at 8 h. 30 m. P.m., again arrived alongside. A second close engagement ensued, and continued until 9 h. 45 m.; when the Havik hauled down her colours and hailed that she had struck. In this five hours’ engagement and running fight, the Thistle had one marine killed, and her commander and six men wounded. On board the Havik one man also was killed, and the Dutch admiral and seven men badly wounded. The conduct of the Thistle in the affair was highly creditable to her commander, his officers, and crew. It was an act of some boldness for a schooner of 150 tons to attack a large warlike enemy’s ship; nor was it less a proof of persevering courage for the Thistle, after three of her carronades had been dismounted, to continue the engagement for so long a time, and until she brought it to a successful issue. Lieutenant Procter, who is described by Vice-admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, the commander-in-chief on the Halifax station, as “an old officer of much merit,” in four months afterwards, as we discover by a reference to the navylist, was promoted to the rank of commander.”
Notes
The notes were not included in the original text but added by my.
1. For this battle the ship was rewarded with the Naval General Service Medal (1847).
2. The Thistle was ordered February 1808 and launched at Bermuda 27 September 1808 and lost being wrecked off cape Santa Maria 23 February 1811. She belonged to the 10-gun schooner Shamrock class built of Bermudian cedar. The dimensions of this class were 78’8”x 21’7” x 7’10” and a builders measurement of 150 32/94 tons and with an armament of 8-12pdr carronades and 2-6pdrs.
3. Belonged to the admiralty of Amsterdam, of the 8th charter, built at Amsterdam in 1784 with the dimensions 110 x 30 x 12 /911 Amsterdam feet and armed with 16-18 guns while her crew numbered 150 men. According to one list dated 1783 she was to be completed in 1784 while armed with 18 guns. Yearly were 1.200 guilders needed for maintenance at small scale. One list suggested that she was bought in 1783. Winfield mentioned a Dutch Havick captured by the British 17 August 1796 and which was built at Amsterdam in 1784. This fate is confirmed by one Dutch archival source. So the Havik which was captured in 1810 can’t be the same ship as the one from 1784.
4. Arnold Adriaan Buyskes Enkhuizen 21 January 1771-Loosduinen 23 January 1838.
Sources
Archive Admiraliteitscolleges XLVII no. 17 (National Archive at The Hague).
Archive Admiraliteitscolleges XXXIX no.’s 17 and 115 (National Archive at The Hague).
Archive Admiraliteitscolleges Van der Heim no. 87(National Archive at The Hague).
Archive Staten Generaal no‘s. 5713 and 9260 (National Archive at The Hague).
Archive Fagel no. 1093 (National Archive at The Hague).
Archive Verhuell no. 153 (National Archive at The Hague).
Archive Family Van den Broek no. 196 (Regionaal Archief Rivierenland, Tiel). The drawing probably belonged originally to Adriaan van der Hoop, an art collector and who made several journeys abroad in the period 1802-1812. The preachers family Van den Broek's were related to the family Van der Hoop.
William James. The naval history of Great Britain from the declaration of war by France in February 1793 to the accession of George IV in January 1820. London 1822-1824.
Rif Winfield. British warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817. Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London, 2005.
