View source for Cuckoo-class schooner

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= HMS Haddock (1805) body plan.jpg
|Ship caption=A plan showing body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth of [[HMS Haddock (1805)|HMS ''Haddock'']], as taken off in October 1805 and modified on her refit. This plan was used for the subsequent ''Cuckoo''-class schooners. [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name='''''Cuckoo'' (or Bird) class'''
|Builders=
|Operators={{Navy|United Kingdom}}
|Class before=''Ballahoo'' (or Fish) class
|Class after=''Cheerful'' class
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|Total ships building= 
|Total ships planned=12
|Total ships completed=12
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|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=9
|Total ships retired=3
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=361}}
|Ship class=
|Ship tons burthen={{fraction|75|1|94}} ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|Ship length=*Overall:{{convert|56|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
*Keel:{{convert|42|ft|4+1/8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|18|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth={{convert|8|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship sail plan=[[Schooner]]
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|Ship complement=20
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|Ship armament=4 × 12-pounder [[carronade]]s (pierced for 10)
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|}
[[File:HMS Haddock (1805) plan.jpg|thumb|right|Plan of HMS ''Haddock'', c. October 1805]] 

The '''''Cuckoo'' class''' was a class of twelve 4-gun [[schooner]]s of the [[Royal Navy]], built by contract in English shipyards during the [[Napoleonic War]]. They followed the design of the Bermuda-designed and built [[Ballahoo class schooner|''Ballahoo'']]-class schooners, and more particularly, that of [[HMS Haddock (1805)|''Haddock'']]. The Admiralty ordered all twelve vessels on 11 December 1805. A number of different builders in different yards built them, with all launching in 1806.

==Operational lives==
Nine of the twelve vessels were lost or disposed of during the war, the survivors being sold in 1816. Enemy forces took four, of which the British were able to retake two. Seven wrecked or foundered with a loss of about 22 crew members in all.

William James wrote scathingly of the ''Cuckoo'' and [[Ballahoo class schooner|''Ballahoo'']]-class schooners, pointing out the high rate of loss, primarily to wrecking or foundering, but also to enemy action.<ref>James (1837) Vol. V, pp. 45–46. {{Google books|PSUOAAAAQAAJ|Page 45|page=45}}</ref> He reports that they were "sent to 'take, burn, and destroy' the vessels of war and merchantmen of the enemy". The record suggests that none seem to have done so successfully. In the only two (arguably three) cases when they did engage enemy vessels, in each case the enemy force was much stronger and the ''Cuckoo''-class vessels were overwhelmed.

James also remarks that: {{quote|Their very appearance as "men of war" raised a laugh at the expense of the projector. Many officers refused to take the command of them. Others gave a decided preference to some vessels built at the same yard, to be employed as water-tanks at Jamaica. Moreover, when sent forth to cruise against the enemies of England...these "king's schooners" were found to sail wretchedly, and proved so crank and unseaworthy, that almost every one of them that escaped capture went to the bottom with the unfortunate men on board.<ref>James (1837) Vol. III, p. 376. Appendix, note "i" to Abstract No. 13. {{Google books|PSwOAAAAQAAJ|Page 376|page=376}}</ref>}}

==Ships==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Builder !! Begun !! Launched !! Completed !! Fate
|-
| [[HMS Cuckoo (1806)|''Cuckoo'']]
|| James Lovewell, [[Great Yarmouth|Gt. Yarmouth]]
|| January 1806
|| 12 April 1806
|| 21 August 1806 at [[Chatham Dockyard]]
|| Wrecked on the Haak Sands at the mouth of the [[Texel]] on 4 April 1810 with the loss of two crew members.
|-
| [[HMS Magpie (1806)|''Magpie'']]
|| William Rowe, Newcastle
|| January 1806
|| 17 May 1806 
|| 12 August 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Taken on 18 February 1807 by French troops after grounding in a storm off [[Perros-Guirec|Perros]], [[Brittany]]. As ''Colombe'' she served with the French Navy until possibly as late as 1828.{{sfnp|Roche|2005|pp=292-3}}
|-
| [[HMS Jackdaw (1806)|''Jackdaw'']]
|| William Rowe, Newcastle
|| January 1806
|| 19 May 1806
|| 8 July 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Taken and retaken 1807; Sold at Plymouth on 1 November 1816 for £210.
|-
| [[HMS Landrail (1806)|''Landrail'']]
|| Thomas Sutton, Ringmore
|| January 1806
|| 18 June 1806
|| 16 July 1806 at [[HMNB Devonport|Plymouth Dockyard]]
|| Taken and retaken 1814; paid off October 1816 and sold c. 1818.
|-
| [[HMS Woodcock (1806)|''Woodcock'']]
|| Crane & Holmes, Gt. Yarmouth
|| February 1806
|| 11 April 1806
|| 23 July 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Wrecked 13 February 1807 at [[Vila Franca do Campo]], [[São Miguel Island|São Miguel]] in the [[Azores]]
|-
| [[HMS Wagtail (1806)|''Wagtail'']]
|| James Lovewell, Gt. Yarmouth
|| February 1806
|| 12 April 1806
|| 126 July 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Wrecked 13 February 1807 at [[Vila Franca do Campo]], [[São Miguel Island|São Miguel]] in the [[Azores]], three hours after ''Woodcock''; one crew member drowned. 
|-
| [[HMS Crane (1806)|''Crane'']]
|| Custance & Stone, Gt.  Yarmouth
|| February 1806
|| 26 April 1806
|| 8 July 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Wrecked off [[Plymouth Hoe]] on 26 October 1808.
|-
| [[HMS Quail (1806)|''Quail'']]
|| Custance & Stone, Gt.  Yarmouth
|| February 1806
|| 26 April 1806 
|| 3 July 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Sold at Plymouth on 11 January 1816 for £260 after what was apparently a completely uneventful career. 
|-
| [[HMS Pigeon (1806)|''Pigeon'']]
|| Custance & Stone, Gt.  Yarmouth
|| February 1806
|| 26 April 1806
|| 8 July 1806 at Chatham Dockyard
|| Wrecked off [[Margate]] on 15 January 1809; two crew members died of exposure.
|-
| [[HMS Rook (1806)|''Rook'']]
|| Thomas Sutton, Ringmore
|| February 1806
|| 21 May 1806
|| 28 June 1806 at Plymouth Dockyard
|| Captured and burnt by two French privateers off Cape St. Nicholas ([[San Domingo]]) on 18 August 1808; three crew members killed (including her captain), and 11 wounded. 
|-
| [[HMS Widgeon (1806)|''Widgeon'']]
|| William Wheaton, [[Brixham]]
|| March 1806
|| 19 June 1806
|| 24 May 1807 at Plymouth Dockyard
|| Wrecked off [[Banff Bay|Banff]] on 20 April 1808.
|-
| [[HMS Sealark (1806)|''Sealark'']]
|| William Wheaton, Brixham
|| March 1806
|| 1 August 1806
|| 25 May 1807 at Plymouth Dockyard
|| Foundered in the North Sea on 18 June 1809; only one crew member survived.
|}

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book| last = James| first = William| author-link = William James (naval historian)| year = 1837| title = The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.| publisher = R. Bentley}}
* {{cite book|first=Jean-Michel|last=Roche|year=2005|title=Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours|isbn=978-2-9525917-0-6|oclc=165892922|publisher=Group Retozel-Maury Millau|volume=1}}
* {{cite book |first1=Rif |last1=Winfield |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008 |isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}} 

{{Cuckoo class schooner}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuckoo class schooner}}
[[Category:Cuckoo-class schooners| ]]
[[Category:Schooners of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Schooner classes]]