The Hired armed ship Kitty served the Royal Navy only from 17 May 1804 to 17 January 1805.[1] She was armed with sixteen 18-pounder carronades and was of 16671/94 tons burthen (bm).
On 10 March 1805, while under the command of Thomas Musgrave, she captured the Spanish ship Felicity (or Felicidad) in the Channel. Felicity was armed with 20 guns and had a crew of 178 men. She was under the command of Jose Vincento de Cinza and had been out 10 days. In the one and a half hour engagement Kitty suffered one man killed and two seriously wounded.[2]
By this time, Kitty's Master described her as a "private ship of war". He had received a letter of marque against the French on 5 February 1805. The letter describes Kitty as having a crew of 100 men, and being armed with 22 carriage guns of 9, 18 and 24 pounds, and six swivels.[3]
In his report, Musgrave reports that fewer than 20 of her crew had ever seen a gun fired, and fewer than 40 had ever been to sea before she left port on 3 March.[2] Kitty's owner and the underwriters of Lloyd's of London presented Commander Musgrave with an honour sabre worth 30 guineas for the action.[1]