HMS Tartar's Prize (1757)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name: | HMS Tartar's Prize |
| Launched: | 1756 as French privateer from Le Havre |
| Completed: | July 1757 |
| Acquired: | 23 March 1757 |
| Commissioned: | March 1757 |
| In service: | 1757-1760 |
| Honours and awards: | Battle of Lagos, 1759 |
| Fate: | Foundered off Sardinia, 2 March 1760 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 24-gun sixth-rate |
| Tons burthen: | 424 65⁄94 bm |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 28 ft 4 in (8.6 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 13 ft 3 in (4.0 m) |
| Complement: | 160 |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Tartar's Prize was a 24-gun sixth-rate of the Royal Navy, which saw active service between 1756 and 1760, during the Seven Years' War.
Originally the French privateer La Marie Victoire, she was captured by HMS Tartar in 1757 and refitted as a privateer hunter. In this role she secured a single victory at sea with the capture of the French vessel La Marquise de Chateaunois in 1757. A flimsily built vessel, she sprang a leak and foundered off the coast of Sardinia in 1760.
Construction
The French privateer La Marie Victoire was constructed at the port of Le Havre in 1756. As built, the vessel was 117 ft 3 in (35.7 m) long with a 99 ft 5.5 in (30.3 m) keel, a beam of 28 ft 4 in (8.6 m) and a hold depth of 13 ft 3 in (4.0 m).[1] Her armament as a privateer was 26 guns; when fitted out for Royal Navy service she carried 20 six-pounder cannons along her upper deck, and four nine-pounder guns on the quarterdeck. Her designated Royal Navy complement was 160 officers and ratings.[1]
Active service
La Marie Victoire was put to sea in 1756, in the early stages of the Seven Years' War, to hunt British merchant ships returning home through the English Channel. She had no recorded victories, and on 27 March 1756 encountered the 28-gun sixth-rate frigate HMS Tartar and was quickly overwhelmed. A British prize crew sailed her to Portsmouth where she was purchased by Admiralty on 29 April for a sum of £4,258.[1][lower-alpha 1] She was immediately commissioned for Royal Navy service; Commander Thomas Baillie of Tartar was promoted to post-captain and transferred to take command of Tartar's Prize.[3]
Fully provisioned and manned by July, the new Royal Navy sixth-rate was returned to the English Channel, first to assist in safe convoy for a fleet of West Indiamen,[4] and then in company with Tartar to hunt privateers.[5] She had her first and only victory within weeks of leaving port, capturing the French vessel La Marquise de Chateaunois on 17 July. Three months later she was assigned to Navy's Mediterranean squadron, with which she took part in the Battle of Lagos in 1759.[1]
After three years' Mediterranean service, Tartar's Prize sprang a leak and sank off the Sardinian coast on 2 March 1760.[1] Her crew were rescued by a passing Danish vessel and taken to Malta. Captain Baillie was not held culpable for the loss, and was later promoted to a position within the Navy's Greenwich Hospital in London.[6]
Notes
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Winfield 2007, p. 265
- ↑ "Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to Present". MeasuringWorth. 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ↑ Winfield 2007, p. 227, 265
- ↑ "Friday's Post". The Newcastle Courant. Newcastle, United Kingdom: John White. 14 July 1757. p. 2. Retrieved 4 December 2016. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "London". Leeds Intelligencer. Leeds, United Kingdom: Griffith Wright. 10 May 1757. p. 3. Retrieved 4 December 2016. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "(untitled)". Lloyd's List (2534). 25 April 1760.
Bibliography
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.