Posted by Ted Aldo on Sunday 8th of July 2012 04:34

The Hardy is listed in the report dated 1825, to the House of Commons on prisons as being at Tipnor/Tipner, Portsmouth as do reports of the same title after this date. This indicates that she was a convict prison hulk by 1825.

Contradicting these reports are the 1828 & 1834 Navy List under "Ships and their Present Station" which shows the Hardy as being a “Convict Hospital Ship, Portsmouth.

Various other sources such as books and internet sites list her as being a storeship in 1816, transferring cattle from the Cape to St Helena in 1820 and a "Convict Hospital Ship" in 1821 until 1831 which were probably sourced from the Naval list.

At the time the Hardy was supposedly a convict hospital ship the Racoon is listed in various Government reports and this site as being a convict hospital ship at Portsea, Portsmouth. The Racoon is not listed in the reports to the House of Commons on prisons.

Given the above it would be likely that the Hardy was earmarked as a hospital ship in 1821 but it never happened. For whatever reason she ended up becoming a prison hulk tucked away in the backwaters of Portsmouth at Tipnor.