HMS Doris (1795)

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Career (United Kingdom)

Name:	HMS Doris
Builder:	Cleveley, Gravesend
Launched:	31 August 1795
Fate:	Wrecked on 21 January 1805
General characteristics as built
Class and type:	36-gun fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen:	913 long tons (927.7 t)
Length:	142 ft (43.3 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	38 ft (11.6 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	36 guns

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Doris.

HMS Doris was a 36-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, which saw service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Doris was built by Cleveley, of Gravesend and was launched on 31 August 1795. She entered service in November 1795, operating in the English Channel as part of the Channel Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. Her first captain was named Jones, but in 1797 she was under the command of Lord Ranelagh. In 1798 Doris was engaged in the hunt for Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart's French squadron that culminated in the Battle of Tory Island, although Doris was not present during the action. In 1800 and 1801, Doris under the command of John Holliday participated in the capture of six French merchant brigs and prizes and also aided in the capture of the French corvette Chevrette.

In 1803 following the Peace of Amiens, Doris took two more French privateers but in 1805 under the command of Captain Patrick Campbell, Doris was lost on a rock off Quiberon Bay. On 21 January Doris struck the Diamond Rock in Benequet Passage and despite efforts to save her she began to rapidly sink. Captain Campbell evacuated the crew and set the ship on fire to prevent her use by the enemy, later taking passage to Britain aboard HMS Tonnant.^[1]