151 - A 1:48 SCALE ADMIRALTY BOARD-STYLE MODEL OF H.M.S. HERMIONE [1782]

A 1:48 SCALE ADMIRALTY BOARD-STYLE MODEL OF H.M.S. HERMIONE [1782] the 37in. hull with open ribs below the waterline and planked above, with open sweep and gunports with cannons, carved polychrome female bust figurehead and decorative stern, partially planked decks revealing internal arrangement, with fittings including anchor, rowing boat, deck guns and helm, secured to wooden cradle stand -- 11 x 39 x 9‏½in. (28 x 99 x 24cm.) A fifth-rate built at Bristol in 1782, Hermoine (32) was caught up in the simmering tensions which followed the French Revolution and the Nore and Spithead mutinies. Her autocratic captain, Hugh Pigot, seems to have paid little heed to these warning shots and, in September 1797, behaving in a shockingly malevolent manner, managed to provoke a mutiny which resulted in his death and that of nine others, with the crew sailing to La Guaira (Venezuela) to hand the ship over to the Spanish. Refitted and now armed with 40-guns and 400 men, she was at anchor at Puerto Caballo under the protection of a further 200 guns when, on 25th October 1799, Captain Edward Hamilton of the 28-gun Surprise spotted her and determined upon one of the most daring escapades of the Napoleonic Wars. The 'Cutting out of the Hermione', achieved with a dozen British wounded (including Hamilton) compared to 119 Spanish dead and 97 wounded, was immortalized in paintings, prints and song and inspired the principal characters from the Hornblower and Aubrey series of books. Hamilton was knighted, showered with expensive gifts and ended up a baronet in 1818. The ship was restored to the RN under the new name of Retribution, but was broken up in 1805.