HMS Maria (1807)

HMS Maria was a gun-brig that the Royal Navy purchased in 1807 and commissioned at Antigua in 1808 under Lieutenant James Bennett. On 29 September she was sailing off Guadeloupe when she encountered the French corvette Départment des Landes, of 22 guns (sixteen 24-pounder carronades, four 12-pounder guns, and two 9-pounder guns on the quarterdeck), plus a large swivel on the forecastle. Départment des Landes had a crew of at least 160 men and boys, commanded by Captain Joseph-François Raoul.

Unable to maneuver, Maria took two broadsides. The French called on Bennett to surrender, which he refused. Three grapeshot from the next broadside killed him. The master, Joseph Dyason, then continued the combat but eventually had to strike. Maria had suffered six men killed, including Bennett, and nine wounded. The French had suffered at most a couple of men wounded. After the French had gotten all their prisoners off the Maria, the prize crew had to run her aground to prevent her from sinking due to the damage she had sustained. The French provided a cartel to Dominica to permit Dyason to report the loss to Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane.

The French later refloated Maria and she was taken into the French Navy under her existing name. The French burned her at Martinique in February 1809 to prevent the British from capturing her during their invasion of Martinique.