HMS Pickle was a topsail schooner of the Royal Navy. She was originally a civilian vessel named Sting, of six guns, that Lord Hugh Seymour purchased to use as a tender on the Jamaica station. Pickle was at the Battle of Trafalgar, and though she was too small to take part in the fighting, Pickle was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory to Great Britain. She also participated in a notable single-ship action when she captured the French privateer Favorite in 1807. Pickle was wrecked in 1808, but without loss of life. Origins Originally named Sting, Pickle was built in 1799 in Bermuda, where this type of vessel was known as a Bermuda sloop. Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, the commander in chief on the Jamaica Station, formally purchased Sting in December 1800 for £2,500, after having leased her for some time at £10 per day. His purchase was in defiance of orders not to purchase vessels. However, faced with a fait accompli, the Admiralty issued an order in February 1801 that her name be changed to Pickle. Between April and June 1800, on the Leeward Island station, a Pickle participated in the capture of four prizes and a recapture. Sting may have been known as Pickle on station long before the Admiralty made her name change official; the London Gazette seems to have no mention of a Sting during this period. That said, the Naval Chronicle numbers the "schooner Sting" among the vessels escorting the convoy in which Lowestoffe wrecked on 10 August 1801. The Admiralty admonished Stings commander after September 1801, Lieutenant Thomas Thrush, to cease referring to her as Sting and to refer to her as Pickle. The 28 November 1801, Bermuda Gazette (not to be confused with the later Royal Gazette) reported his Majesty's schooner Sting as having departed Jamaica on the morning of 17 September 1801, for Great Britain, carrying the body of Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour. French Revolutionary Wars On 9 April 1800, the tenders Pickle and Garland recaptured the schooner Hero. She had a crew of seven men and was 136 tons burthen (bm). She was out of Guadeloupe, sailing from Pointe Petre to Saint Bartholomew with a load of cordwood. A week later, the same two vessels captured the Dutch schooner Maria. She had a crew of 19 men, armed with small arms, and was of 35 tons burthen