HMS Pelican (1777)

HMS Pelican was a 24-gun Porcupine-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy built in 1777 and wrecked in 1781.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Pelican.

Pelican
History
Royal Navy Ensign (1707 - 1801)Great Britain
NameHMS Pelican
Ordered24 July 1776
Awarded6 August 1776
BuilderAdams & Barnard, Grove Street Shipyard, Deptford
Laid downAugust 1776
Launched24 April 1777
CommissionedMay 1777
FateWrecked off Jamaica in August 1781
General characteristics [1]
Class and type24-gun Porcupine-class sixth-rate post ship
Tons burthen520 (bm)
Length
  • 114 ft 5 in (34.87 m) (overall)
  • 94 ft 6 in (28.80 m) (keel)
Beam32 ft 2 in (9.80 m)
Draught
  • 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m)
  • 11 ft (3.4 m)
Depth of hold10 ft 3+1⁄2 in (3.137 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement160
Armament
  • As built:
  • Upper deck: 22 × 9-pounder guns
  • Quarterdeck: 2 × 6-pounder guns

Construction and commissioning

Pelican cost £5,623.11.0d to build, plus £3,545.0.7d for fitting . She was commissioned under her first commanding officer, Captain Henry Lloyd, in May 1777.[2][3]

Service

Pelican was first stationed under Lloyd in the North Sea; by 1778 she was stationed off Cape Finisterre and a year later she had transferred to the coast of Portugal. She returned to England for a refit at Sheerness Dockyard between August and September 1779 and was recommissioned in November with Captain William Lockhart in command. Lockhart only stayed with Pelican briefly and by January 1780 Captain Thomas Haynes had assumed command of the post ship. Under him she sailed for the Jamaica Station on 13 April, where she captured the French privateer La Marquise de Saint-Pern on 9 December. In June 1781 Captain Cuthbert Collingwood took command from Haynes. Pelican captured the French 16-gun ship Le Cerf on 22 July.[3]

Fate

On 2 August Pelican was caught up in a hurricane and wrecked on the Morant Keys.[3]

Citations
  1. Winfield (2007), pp. 1256–7.
  2. Winfield (2007), p. 1255.
  3. Winfield (2007), p. 1257.

References
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
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