HMS ''Richmond'' was the name ship of the six-vessel, 32-gun
''Richmond''-class 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 ...
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 ...
s 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 ...
. She was launched in 1757 and served throughout the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. She and HMS Emerald captured French brig Alexandrine 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 ...
off the mouth of the
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the enti ...
3 January, 1778. She captured 1 prize off Cape Charles in February, 1778. On 5 February a sloop ran aground off Cherry Point while being pursued by Richmond and
HMS Solebay and was burned. On 9 February Richmond and HMS Solebay captured Maryland State Govt. trading vessel Lydia off
St. Mary's River, later ruled a recapture. On 28 February she captured Danish flagged, American owned ship Good Hope off Cape Henry. She was captured by the French
74-gun
The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...
''Bourgogne'' and the frigate
''Aigrette'' on 11 September 1781 in the Chesapeake. She then served as ''Richemont'' under Lieutenant
Mortemart
Mortemart (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association.
See also
*Communes of t ...
.
On 12 April 1782 she fought at the
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...
and famously tried to tow
''Glorieux'' to safety. A painting of the attempt was made later, and was on display at the Ministry of the Navy in the 1930.
Fate
The French burned her at Sardinia on 19 May 1793 to prevent the Spanish from capturing her.
[Winfield and Roberts (2015), Chap. 5.]
Citations
References
*
*
* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. .
*
* David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. .
* (1671–1870)
*
*Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015) ''French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 – 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates''. (Seaforth Publishing).
https://www.fedex.com/fedextrack/?trknbr=285904157143&trkqual=12022~285904157143~FDEG
Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
1757 ships
Ships built in Deptford
Captured ships
Frigates of the French Navy
Richmond-class frigates
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