HMS Emerald (1757)

HMS Emerald was a 28-gun frigate of the Royal Navy which saw active service during the Seven Years' War.

History
France
Name	L'Emeraude
Laid down	February 1744 at Le Havre
Launched	August 1744
In service	1744–1757
Captured	1757
Fate	Captured by Royal Navy, 21 September 1757
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Emerald
Completed	8 July 1758 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Acquired	21 September 1757
Commissioned	April 1758
In service	1758–1761
Fate	Broken up, Portsmouth Dockyard, November 1761
General characteristics
Class and type	28-gun frigate
Tons burthen	571 26⁄94 bm
Length	115 ft 4 in (35.2 m) (gundeck) 93 ft 2 in (28.4 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 11.5 in (10.4 m)
Depth of hold	9 ft 4 in (2.8 m)
Complement	180
Armament	24 × 9-pdrs (gundeck) 4 x 4-pdrs (forecastle and quarterdeck)

Launched in 1744 as the French naval vessel L'Emeraude, she was captured by HMS Southampton on 21 September 1757 and brought into Portsmouth Dockyard where she was refitted from British service. She was renamed Emerald in December 1757 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in April 1758 under the command of Captain Thomas Cornwall.[1]

Emerald was assigned to patrol and convoy duties in the British Leeward Islands from January 1759, securing three victories over French privateers in the following two years. In July 1760 command was transferred to Captain Charles Middleton, who remained with Emerald for the rest o her Caribbean service. The frigate returned to England in September 1761 and was decommissioned at Portsmouth Dockyard in October. She was declared surplus to Navy requirements on 7 October and broken up at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1761.[1]