His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Princess Augusta served the Royal Navy from 12 July 1803 to 2 May 1814. She was armed with eight 4-pounder guns, had a complement of 26 men, and was of 70 tons (bm). She participated in several single ship actions and took several prizes before the Navy returned her to her owners near the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Service
In 1803 Lieutenant Isaac William Scott took command of Princess Augusta for the North Sea. In the second week of September she delivered orders from Lord Keith to warships off Hellevoetsluis, Texel and the Elbe.
Princess Augusta vs. Two Dutch privateers
On 20 September, 45 miles northeast of Texel, she encountered two schooners that bore down on her and opened fire, killing two of Princess Augusta's crew and mortally wounding Scott. The two schooners were Dutch: Union, under Lieutenant Commander St. Faust, of 12 guns and 70 men, and Wraak, under Lieutenant Commander Doudet, of eight guns and 50 men. The Dutch attempted to board but were unable to do so. Eventually, they sailed off. In addition to the two men killed in the initial broadside, Princess Augusta had suffered three wounded, including Scott, who died the next morning. Command devolved on her Master, Joseph Thomas, who made for Dover. The tide was against them and they were unable to land until the afternoon of 23 September. Wraak reportedly lost one man killed and several wounded. (Seven years later Thomas would be in command of the Hired armed cutter Queen Charlotte when he would participate in another, bloodier, but equally successful fight against great odds.)
Later, someone signing himself "De Faust" wrote a letter to the Delft Courant claiming, inter alia, that Unie (Union) had carried only four small guns when he had put to flight Princess Augusta, of fourteen 8-pounder guns. He further asserted that only her sailing off had prevented him from boarding her.
Prize taking
On 13 June 1804, while under the command of Lieutenant John Tracey, Princess Augusta, with a crew of only 25 men, encountered a 14-gun French privateer off Huntcliff. Initially, Princess Augusta took the brig for a collier, but the brig's crowded decks signalled that she was a privateer. During the four-hour engagement Princess Augusta took several shot near the water line and sustained extensive damage to her rigging. Still, she suffered only three men wounded, though one desperately. The French vessel veered off on the approach of two schooners manned with Sea Fencibles from Redcar. The French privateer reportedly was under the command of a notorious pirate known as "Blackman".
Towards the end of 1806 Princess Augusta captured several vessels. These were Neptunus (4 November), Onverwaght and Vrow Johanna (20 November), and Kitty (11 December). She also captured Morganstern, a fishing vessel, on 11 December.
On 27 January 1807, while 45 miles off Lowestoft, Princess Augusta sighted a French privateer cutter and chased her for three hours. Tracey was eventually able to get alongside and after firing some guns and small arms into her, she struck. She was Jena, commanded by Captain Francis Capelle, of four guns and 30 men. She also had a great number of small arms on board. She was 12 days out of Flushing and had made two captures. The next day Princess Augusta recaptured Jenas prizes, Sophia and Courieur, one of them a Prussian ship, laden with timber and bound to London. Later that year Tracey transferred to the brig .
On 19 February 1807 chased the French privateer cutter Chasseur into the hands of . At the time, Carrier was also in company with the hired armed cutters Princess Augusta, under the command of Lieutenant John Jenkins, and Princess of Wales.
As Carrier was returning to her station, together with Princess Augusta, at 9 a.m. she sighted a suspicious sail ten leagues from Goree. After a chase of five hours she caught up with the French privateer schooner Ragotin. Ragotin, under the command of Jaques Jappie, carried eight guns, which she had thrown overboard during the chase, and a crew of 29 men. She was eight days out of Dunkirk, on her first cruise, and had not made any captures.
By June 1807 Princess Augusta was under the command of Lieutenant Robert Jordan. On 2 June she captured Frau Barbara and Frau Gerina. On 26 July she captured Goede Hoope. Then on 10 October she re-captured the Cadiz Packet. On 19 November, she re-captured Sunneside. Lastly, on 30 December, she was under the command of Lieutenant Andrew McCulloch when she recaptured the Swedish brig Frederica.
On 15 February 1808, Princess Augusta captured Johanna.