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Crête-à-Pierrot was a gunboat in the Haitian Navy named after the 1802 Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot in the Haitian Revolution (1791 – 1804). The boat was destroyed by Admiral Hammerton Killick in 1902 to prevent it falling into the hands of a German warship.
The ship displaced 950 tons. It was powered by a triple expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller, giving a speed of 16kn. Armament comprised a 16 cm, 12 cm and four 10 cm guns, four Nordenfelt machine guns and two Maxim machine guns.[1] [2]
The Haitian Government commissioned an armed cruiser to be designed by Sir E J Reed and built by Earle's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co at Hull, Yorkshire, England.[3] The ship was launched as Crête-à-Pierrot, named for the revolutionary battle of Crête-à-Pierrot, on 7 November 1895. After arming in France, it was added to the Haitian Navy in 1896 and considered the Navy's crown jewel, the best of the four ships it possessed at the time.
Crête-à-Pierrots first commander was Captain Gilmour, from Scotland, who served under contract to Haiti.
In 1902 Haiti was enveloped in a civil war over who would become president after the sudden resignation of Tirésias Simon Sam. Crête-à-Pierrot was controlled by Admiral Hammerton Killick and supporters of Anténor Firmin and was used to blockade ports where Pierre Nord Alexis was gathering troops.[4] There was a plan to use Crête-à-Pierrot to transport Firmin to Port-au-Prince while Jean Jumeau marched on Port-au-Prince by land.[5]
In September 1902, Crête-à-Pierrot seized a German ammunition ship, Markomannia en route to provide ammunition to Alexis' forces. Alexis asked Germany for help subduing a pirate ship. In response, Germany sent the gunboat to find and capture Crête-à-Pierrot.
On 6 September, Crête-à-Pierrot was in port at Gonaïves, with Killick and most of the crew on Shore leave when Panther appeared.[6] Killick rushed aboard and ordered his crew to abandon ship. When all but four crew members had evacuated the ship Killick, inspired by the tale of Captain LaPorte, wrapped himself in a Haitian flag, fired the aft magazine, and blew up the ship rather than let the Germans take her.[7] Killick and the remaining four crew members went down with the ship.
An hour later, Panther fired thirty shots at Crête-à-Pierrot to finish it off, then sailed away. The ship's rifles and machine guns were salvaged, along with the bodies of the crew that remained on board.