HMS ''Mermaid'' was a

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 ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

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 ...

. She was first commissioned in April 1761 under Captain George Watson and 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, HMS ''Bounty'' famed for its mutiny. History Hugh Blaydes ...

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 o ...

. On 8 July 1778, the 50 gun ''Sagittaire'' and the 64-gun ''Fantasque'' forced HMS ''Mermaid'' to beach herself at Cape Henhlopen.

Notes

References

* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * Rif Winfield, ''

British Warships in the Age of Sail ''British Warships in the Age of Sail'' is a series of four books by maritime historian Rif Winfield comprising a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships that served or were intended to serve in the (British) Royal Navy ...

, 1714 to 1792'', Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. .

External links

* 1761 ships Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1778 {{UK-mil-ship-stub