HMS ''Pyramus'' was a

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

36-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

launched at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 1810. During the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

she captured some small privateers. She was hulked in 1832–1833 at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. The vessel was sold and broken up in 1879.

Origin

''Pyramus'' was the sole member of her class and was built on the lines of the , which the Royal Navy captured in 1780. She was ordered in 1805 and laid down the next year, but in 1807 the builder failed. The Admiralty transferred the frame to the Portsmouth Dockyard. The Admiralty reordered her and she was launched in 1810.

Career

On 26 October 1813, and ''Pyramus'' captured the 225 ton (bm) American

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

''Chesapeake'' off Nantes. Captain Joseph Richardson had sailed her from America to France and she left Nantes on 18 October 1813. On 29 November ''Pyramus'' captured the American vessel , Jedediah Olcott, master, of four guns and 20 men. ''Zephyr'' had been sailing from Lorient to Charlestown. ''Pyramus'' was laid up in 1829. Between November 1832 and July 1833 she underwent fitting for a convict and receiving ship for

. From 1834 to 1875 she was at Halifax. She served as a hospital ship during the Chorea Epidemic.

Fate

On 10 November 1879 she was sold for £1,600 for breaking up.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyramus (1810) 1810 ships Brigs of the Royal Navy Hospital ships of the United Kingdom Military medical installations