HMS ''Sphinx'' was a 24-gun

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The ship was built to the 1745 Establishment design drawn by the Surveyor of the Navy. The ship was commissioned in September 1748 under Captain William Lloyd, and transported Governor

Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobite r ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

where he established Halifax.Also traveled on the Sphinx wit
Timothy Edwards
/ref> The ship served in Nova Scotia until early 1750, before being refitted at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

. She then moved to the Mediterranean, before returning to Home Waters in 1751, where she was briefly off Ireland. In late 1751, now under Captain Edward Wheeler, she was deployed to the African coast and thence to Jamaica. Returned to England, she was refitted at Deptford in 1755 and then recommissioned under Captain James Gambier for a fresh deployment to Jamaica. On 3 December 1755, the ''Sphinx'' brought a French merchant vessel she had captured into

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. She returned to England in late 1758 under Captain John Dalrymple to pay off into reserve, seeing no further service until she was sold for breaking up in 1770.

Notes

References

* David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * Rif Winfield, '' British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792'', Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sphinx (1748) Frigates of the Royal Navy 1748 ships Ships built on the River Thames