HMS ''Hero'' was a 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, designed by Sir

Thomas Slade Sir Thomas Slade (1703/4 – 1771) was an English naval architect best known for designing the Royal Navy warship HMS Victory, HMS ''Victory'', which served as Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalg ...

built by

Thomas Bucknall Thomas Bucknall (c.1705–c.1775) was an 18th-century Royal Navy shipbuilder based alternately at Plymouth and Portsmouth. He is known also to have carved the figureheads on the ships. Life and career Little is known of his early life. He w ...

Plymouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...

and launched on 28 March 1759. She was the only ship built to her draught. ''Hero'' and captured the French

East Indiaman East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...

''Bertin'' on 3 April 1761 and sent her into Plymouth. There the Royal Navy purchased her and commissioned as the

. From 1763 to 1767 ''Hero'' was commanded by Captain Paul Ourry. She had a part in the

Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under Pierre André de Suffren. Both squadr ...

, a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781, between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren. Under the command of Captain Theophilus Jones, she took part in the 1783 Battle of Cuddalore. She was converted to a prison ship in 1793, and was eventually broken up in 1810.

Citations

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). * *Theal, George McCall (1897) ''History of South Africa under the administration of the Dutch East India Company, 1652 to 1795''. (S. Sonnenschein & co., Ptd.).
Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas

External links

Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1759 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub