HMS Speedy (1782)

HMS Speedy was a 14-gun Speedy-classbrig sloop of the Royal Navy. Built during the last years of the American War of Independence, she served with distinction during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Built at Dover, Kent, Speedy spent most of the interwar years serving off the British coast. Transferred to the after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, she spent the rest of her career there under a number of notable commanders, winning fame for herself in various engagements and often against heavy odds. Her first commander in the Mediterranean, Charles Cunningham, served with distinction with several squadrons, assisting in the capture of several war prizes, such as the French frigates Modeste and Impérieuse. His successor, George Cockburn, impressed his superiors with his dogged devotion to duty. Speedy's next commander, George Eyre, had the misfortune to lose her to a superior French force on 9 June 1794.

She was soon retaken, and re-entered service under Hugh Downman, who captured a number of privateers between 1795 and 1799 and fought off an attack by the large French privateer Papillon on 3 February 1798. His successor, Jahleel Brenton, fought a number of actions against Spanish forces off Gibraltar. Her last captain, Lord Cochrane, forced the surrender of the much larger Spanish frigate El Gamo. A powerful French squadron captured her again in 1801 and Napoleon donated her to the Papal Navy the following year. She spent five years with the Papal Navy under the name San Paolo; she was struck around 1806.