HMS ''Mediator'' was a 10-gun single-masted

sloop of war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all ...

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 ...

, in service in American in 1745, during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

. Built in

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

in 1741, she was purchased by the Navy four years later and sailed to Portsmouth for fitting out by

Peirson Lock Peirson Lock (c.1690–1755) was a shipbuilder and designer for the Royal Navy who was Master Shipwright of Plymouth Dockyard from 1726 to 1742, and of Portsmouth Dockyard from 1742 to 1755. History He was born around 1690. In 1716 he was a ...

. She was captured by a French privateer in June 1745, but recaptured the following day.Winfield 2007, p.306 ''Mediator'' sprang a leak and foundered in Ostend harbor on 29 July 1745.

Construction

''Mediator'' was built as a private merchant vessel in early 1741, on the shore of

in the British colony of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. She was a single-masted sloop with sloop-rigged sails, a

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

and a substantial

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mediator (1758) Sloops of the Royal Navy 1741 ships Maritime incidents in 1745