HMS Redpole (1808)

HMS Redpole was a sailing brig of the Royal Navy, launched in July 1808. She was 238 52⁄94(tons bm), armed with eight 18-pounder carronades and two 6-pound bow chasers, and carried a crew of 75. One of the notorious Cherokee class, dubbed 'coffin brigs' because of the large numbers that were wrecked or foundered, she was sunk in action in August 1828 but prior to that played an active part in the Napoleonic Wars.

At the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809, she and HMS Lyra guided the fireships into position, during the initial attack, then later engaged French ships, stranded in the Charente River. In September, she took part in the Walcheren expedition; an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to destroy the dockyards and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuse and Flushing, and to capture the French fleet stationed in the river Scheldt. Redpole was serving in the English Channel Fleet when, on 3 September 1811, she and another Cherokee-class brig, HMS Rinaldo, attacked the Boulogne flotilla, despite being outnumbered. Unable to inflict any substantial damage, the two British brigs eventually withdrew. On 21 September, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was at Boulogne carrying out an inspection of his invasion fleet, spotted Redpole, Rinaldo, the frigate HMS Naiad, and the brigs HMS Castillian and HMS Viper off the coast and ordered a division of 12-gun prames and 15 smaller vessels, to attack. Redpole and Rinaldo badly damaged the 12-gun Ville de Lyon, which was subsequently boarded and captured by men from Naiad.

After the war, Redpole was converted for use as a packet boat and employed on the Falmouth Packet Service. While returning to Britain from Rio de Janeiro in August 1828, she was caught in an action with an 18-gun pirate vessel. Following an engagement of about an hour-and-a-quarter, Redpole sank with all lives lost.