HMS ''Hero'' was a 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, designed 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 ...

built by

Thomas Bucknall Thomas Bucknall (c.1705–c.1775) was an 18th-century Royal Navy shipbuilder based alternatively at Plymouth and Portsmouth. He is known also to have carved the figureheads on the ships. Life and career Little is known of his early life. He ...

Plymouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...

and launched on 28 March 1759. She was the only ship built to her draught. ''Hero'' and captured the French

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

''Bertin'' on 3 April 1761 and sent her into Plymouth. There the Royal Navy purchased her and commissioned as the

. From 1763 to 1767 ''Hero'' was commanded by Captain Paul Ourry. She had a part in the

Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren. Both squadrons w ...

, a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781, between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren. Under the command of Captain Theophilus Jones, she took part in the 1783 Battle of Cuddalore. She was converted to a prison ship in 1793, and was eventually broken up in 1810.

Citations

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). * *Theal, George McCall (1897) ''History of South Africa under the administration of the Dutch East India Company, 1652 to 1795''. (S. Sonnenschein & co., Ptd.).
Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas

External links

Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1759 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub