HMS Atalanta

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Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Atalanta after the athlete in ancient Greek mythology.

• The first Atalanta was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1775, renamed HMS Helena in 1801 and sold in 1802.
• The next Atalanta, was a 12-gun schooner, originally called Siro, captured from the United States during the Anglo-American War of 1812 but recovered by them later that year.
• The third Atalanta was a tender launched at Deptford in 1816 and transferred to the Customs service the following year.
• The fourth Atalanta was a wooden paddle sloop in the Indian Navy, launched in 1836 and broken up around 1850.
• The fifth Atalanta was a brig launched in 1847 and broken up in 1868.
• The last Atalanta was a 26-gun frigate launched in 1844 as Juno. She was renamed Mariner in January 1878 and then Atalanta two weeks later. As a training ship, she disappeared with her entire crew of 281 after setting sail from Bermuda for Falmouth, England on 31 January 1880. It was presumed that she sank in a powerful storm which crossed her route a couple of weeks after she sailed.

[edit] References

• Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.