HMS Hind (1785)

History
Great Britain
Name:	Hind
Ordered:	2 October 1782
Builder:	Clayton & Willson, Sandgate, Kent
Laid down:	February 1783
Launched:	22 July 1785
Completed:	24 November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard
Commissioned:	May 1790
Fate:	Broken up at Deptford in July 1811
General characteristics
Class and type:	Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	590 ^79⁄94 (bm)
Length:	118 ft 5 in (36.1 m) (gundeck) 97 ft 4 in (29.7 m) (keel)
Beam:	33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Depth of hold:	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	200
Armament:	(As built): Upperdeck: 24 × 9-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 4 × 3-pounder guns & 4 × 18-pounder carronades 12 × ½-pdr swivel guns

HMS Hind was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was a revival of the Coventry class, designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade as a development of his HMS Lyme of 1748, "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns." The design was slightly modified for the Hind and its projected sistership Laurel (which was cancelled after the builder went bankrupt).

After launch, Hind was completed at Deptford Dockyard from 1785 until 24 November 1787 but was not commissioned until May 1790, when she went into service under the command of Captain Alexander Cochrane until 1793. The captain's nephew, Thomas Cochrane saw his first sea service under his uncle's captaincy. HMS Crescent captured the French privateer Espoir, of ten guns, on 2 March 1793.^[1][2] By agreement, Crescent shared the bounty bill with Hind.^[3]

In 1794 Hind was commanded by Captain Philip Durham, in 1795 Captain Philip Lee, and in 1796 Captain John Bazely. In June 1797 command passed to Captain Joseph Larcom, who remained with her until she paid off from service following the Peace of Amiens. While Larcom was in command, Hind captured the Spanish privateer Aimable Juana on 23 April 1798.^{[Note 1]}

She was refitted at Frindsbury in 1804-05, and recommissioned at Chatham in June 1805 under Captain Francis Fane for Mediterranean service. In April 1808 command passed to Captain Richard Vincent, then in 1809 Captain John Lumley and 1810 Captain Spelman Swaine.

Fate

She was taken to pieces at Deptford in July 1811.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. Head money for 46 men was paid in November 1829. A first-class share was worth £65 3s 4½d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 5s 9½d.^[4]

Citations

1. Winfield (2008), p.137.
2. The London Gazette: no. 13615. p. 64. 18 January 1794.
3. The London Gazette: no. 13794. p. 724. 7 July 1795.
4. The London Gazette: no. 18626. p. 2039. 6 November 1829.

References

• Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9.
• David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. ISBN 0-85177-617-5.
• Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792, Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.

External links

• Ships of the Old Navy