HMS ''Echo'' 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 and ...

of the Royal Navy, in active service between 1758 and 1764, during the Seven Years' War. Originally the French

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

''LEcho'', she was captured by in 1758 and refitted as a privateer hunter. Stationed in the Caribbean, she captured a total of five enemy vessels over the following five years. She was declared surplus to Navy requirement at the end of the War in 1763, and was decommissioned at Chatham Dockyard. After six years at the Dockyard, she was sold out of service in 1770.

Construction

Construction commenced in 1756 in Nantes, shortly after the outbreak of war between France and Britain. The vessel was originally intended as a privateer named ''Le Maréchal de Richelieu'', but was purchased by the French Navy in December 1758. Completed in early 1759, she was commissioned into that Navy as the 28-gun

''LEcho'' and assigned to duties in the French Caribbean.Winfield 2007, pp. 265266 As built, ''LEcho'' was long with a short keel and an unusually broad

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

of . Her sides were low, with a hold depth of only , nearly less than similar vessels such as the privateer ''La Marie Victoire''. Her armament as a French vessel was 28 guns, comprising 24 nine-pounder cannons and four smaller weapons. After her capture by the British these four smaller guns were removed. Her crew numbers as a French vessel are unrecorded; the designated Royal Navy complement was 160 men.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Echo, HMS 1757 ships Ships built in France Captured ships Sixth rates of the Royal Navy