HMS ''Tweed'' was a 32-gun sailing frigate of the

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 ...

produced for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. She was designed in 1757 by

Sir Thomas Slade Sir Thomas Slade (1703/4–1771) was an English naval architect, most famous for designing HMS ''Victory'', Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Early life He was the son of Arthur Slade (1682–1746) and his wife Hannah ...

, based on the lines of the smaller

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 a ...

HMS ''Tartar'', but with a 10-foot midsection inserted. She was built in

Blaydes Yard Blaydes' Yard was a private shipbuilder in Kingston upon Hull, England, founded in the 18th century which fulfilled multiple Royal Navy contracts. Her most notable ship was HMS ''Bounty'' famed for its mutiny. History Hugh Blaydes was born i ...

Kingston-Upon-Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

. ''Tweed'' was commissioned in April 1759 under Captain William Paston. On 15 March 1761 ''Tweed'' captured the French privateer ''Hardi'', off Cape Finisterre. ''Hardi'', of Bayonne, was armed with 10 guns and had a crew of 125 men. She had been out 18 days but had not captured anything. ''Tweed'' took ''Hardi'' into Lisbon. In 1763 command passed to Captain Charles Douglas until ''Tweed'' paid off into reserve in April 1765. In November 1766 she was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Collingwood. In 1770 command passed to Captain George Collier until the ship

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

into reserve again in 1771. The design was not considered to be very successful and no further ships of this class were built, while the ''Tweed'' herself was sold in 1776 following a survey in 1771 that indicated that she would require a Middling Repair taking £3,500 and nine months to complete.

Citations

References

* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tweed (1759) 1759 ships Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy