HMS ''Richmond'' was the name ship of the six-vessel, 32-gun ''Richmond''-class

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 N ...

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 ...

s 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 launched in 1757 and served throughout the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. She and HMS Emerald captured French brig Alexandrine in

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

off the mouth of the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the entir ...

3 January, 1778. She captured 1 prise off Cape Charles in February, 1778. She was captured by the French

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

''Bourgogne'' and the frigate ''Aigrette'' captured her on 11 September 1781 in the Chesapeake. She then served as ''Richemont'' under Lieutenant

Mortemart Mortemart (; oc, Mòrtamar) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region in west-central France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Vienne department Ref ...

. On 12 April 1782 she fought at the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

and famously tried to tow ''Glorieux'' to safety. A painting of the attempt was made later, and was on display at the Ministry of the Navy in the 1930.

Fate

The French burned her at Sardinia on 19 May 1793 to prevent the Spanish from capturing her.Winfield and Roberts (2015), Chap. 5.

Citations

References

* * * Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * (1671–1870) * *Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015) ''French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 – 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates''. (Seaforth Publishing). https://www.fedex.com/fedextrack/?trknbr=285904157143&trkqual=12022~285904157143~FDEG Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy 1757 ships Ships built in Deptford Captured ships Frigates of the French Navy Richmond-class frigates {{UK-frigate-stub