HMS Boxer (1812)

The Bold class were a revival of Sir William Rule's design of 1804. They were armed with ten 18-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder bow chasers. Built by Hobbs & Hellyer, Redbridge, Hampshire, she was launched on 25 July 1812. ==Royal Navy service off Maine==

Commander George Rose Sartorius commissioned her in August 1812. R. Coote may have briefly commanded her before Commander Samuel Blyth took command in September; on 17 April 1813 she sailed for Halifax and service in the squadron of Sir John Borlase Warren. ==Capture by USS Enterprise==

, ca. 1814, from The Naval Chronicle On 5 September 1813, Boxer engaged the American brig Enterprise under Lieutenant William Burrows. Blyth nailed his colours to the mast and died in the first broadside. The same broadside that killed Blyth dismasted Boxer. Boxer continued to fight for another half an hour before she was forced to strike. Enterprise carried two more guns, had a heavier broadside, and had almost twice the number of men. However, the key factor was the dismasting of the Boxer, which allowed Enterprise to maneuver to rake her. Furthermore, a court martial later found that a number of British seamen had deserted their quarters during the action. Blyth was buried in Portland with full military honours at the same time and next to Burrows, who had also died in the action. The surviving officers placed a tombstone over Blyth's grave. He was 29 years old; Burrows was 28. ==Mercantile service==

Boxer was sold at auction in Portland, Maine, to Thomas Merrill, Jr., for US$5,600. Her guns and ballast were sold at the same time, the whole proceeds amounting to US$9,755. Burrow's heirs received US$1,115; each seaman's share of the prize money was US$55. Some of her spare spars and rigging went to equip the Mercator. Boxers guns went to arm the Maine privateer Hyder Ali. Hyder Ali did not have much luck either. She captured two prizes that the British retook before they could reach Maine and was herself then captured in May 1814 near the Nicobar Islands by . Initially Boxer was pressed into service to defend Portland harbour. After the war she went on to sail as a merchantman for several years. Her first voyage was in April 1815. Under Captain William McLellan, Jr. (1776–1844), she sailed to Havana, New York, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Marseilles, and back to New York before returning to Portland in early 1816. Subsequent shorter cruises under McLellan, Hall, or William Merrill took her along the coast, or to the West Indies. Around 1818 Merrill sold Boxer to a Portuguese firm that used her as a mail packet between Portuguese Cape Verde and Lisbon. Merrill reported that in 1825 he passed Boxer leaving Praia at dusk as he entered the harbour on his vessel John. It is suggested that Boxer was finally lost on the coast of Brazil. ==See also==