Hind class sloop
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy |
| Preceded by: | Merlin class |
| Built: | 1744-1744 |
| In commission: | 1744-1772 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics (common design) | |
| Type: | Sloop-of-war |
| Tons burthen: | 266 20⁄94 bm |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 25 ft 10 in (7.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m) (vessels without platform in hold) |
| Sail plan: | Snow brig |
| Complement: | 110 |
| Armament: |
|
The Hind class was a class of four sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1743 and 1746. Two were built by contract with commercial builders to a common design prepared by Joseph Allin, the Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard, and the other two were built in Deptford Dockyard itself.
The first two - Hind and Vulture - were ordered on 6 August 1743 to be built to replace two ex-Spanish vessels (the Rupert's Prize and Pembroke's Prize, captured in 1741 and 1742 respectively, and put into service by the British). Although initially armed with ten 6-pounder guns, this class was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck, enabling them to be re-armed with fourteen 6-pounders later in their careers.
Two more vessels to the same design - Jamaica and Trial - were ordered ten days later, on 18 August 1743; these were built under Allin's supervision at Deptford Dockyard, and were the only wartime sloops of this era be built in a Royal Dockyard.
Vessels
| Name | Ordered | Builder | Launched | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hind | 6 August 1743 | Philemon Perry, Blackwall |
19 April 1744 | Lost 1 September 1747 off Louisbourg. |
| Vulture (written as Vulter) | 6 August 1743 | John Greaves, Limehouse |
4 May 1744 | Sold 30 January 1761 at Portsmouth. |
| Jamaica | 18 August 1743 | Deptford Dockyard | 17 July 1744 | Wrecked 27 January 1770 off Cuba. |
| Trial | 18 August 1743 | Deptford Dockyard | 9 November 1743 | Taken to pieces 3 January 1776 at Woolwich. |
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
- McLaughlan, Ian. The Sloop of War 1650-1763. Seaforth Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-1-84832-187-8.
- Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.