Cormorant class ship-sloop
.jpg) His Majesty's ship Blossom off the Sandwich Islands | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Cormorant-class ship-sloop |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy |
| Built: | 1793 - 1817 |
| In service: | 1794 - 1833 |
| Completed: | 30 |
| Cancelled: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ship sloop |
| Tons burthen: | 422.7 bm |
| Length: | 108 ft 4 in (33 m) (gundeck) 90 ft 9.625 in (28 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 29 ft 7 in (9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 125 (121 from 1794) |
| Armament: | As built:
Later:
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The Cormorant class were built as a class of 16-gun ship sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 guns were added soon after completion.
Design
The class was designed jointly by the two Surveyors of the Navy - Sir William Rule and Sir John Henslow - and six vessels to this design were ordered in February 1793; a seventh vessel was ordered in the following year. Twenty-four more were ordered to the same design in 1805 - 1806, although in this new batch 32-pounder carronades were fitted instead of the 6 pounders originally mounted in the earlier batch; of this second batch one ship (Serpent) was cancelled and another (Ranger) completed to a slightly lengthened variant of the design.
Ships
Batch 1 (with 6-pounder guns)
| Name | Ordered | Builder | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cormorant | 18 February 1793 | Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe | 2 January 1794 | Blew up by accident on 24 December 1796 |
| Favourite (i) | 18 February 1793 | Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe | 1 February 1794 | Captured by the French 6 January 1806; retaken 27 January 1807 and renamed Goree; broken up in 1817, |
| Hornet | 18 February 1793 | Marmaduke Stalkart, Rotherhithe | 3 February 1794 | Sold on 30 October 1817 |
| Lynx (see Note 1) |
18 February 1793 | William Cleverly, Gravesend | 14 February 1794 | Sold on 28 April 1813 |
| Lark | 18 February 1793 | Thomas Pitcher, Northfleet | 15 February 1794 | Foundered on 3 August 1809 |
| Hazard | 18 February 1793 | Josiah & Thomas Brindley, Frindsbury | 3 March 1794 | Sold on 30 October 1817 |
| Stork | 6 November 1794 | Deptford Royal Dockyard | 29 November 1794 | Sold on 30 May 1816 |
- Note 1: The Lynx caused an international incident in 1795 when she fired on the USRC Eagle.
Batch 2 (with 32-pounder carronades)
| Name | Ordered | Builder | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyacinth | 12 July 1805 | John Preston, Great Yarmouth | 30 August 1806 | Broken up in December 1820 |
| Sabrina | 12 July 1805 | Robert Adams, Chapel, Southampton | 1 September 1806 | Sold on 18 April 1816 |
| Herald | 12 July 1805 | Carver & Corney, Littlehampton | 27 December 1806 | Broken up in September 1817 |
| Anacreon | 12 July 1805 | Plymouth Royal Dockyard (see Note 2) |
1 May 1813 | Foundered with all hands on 28 February 1814 |
| Rosamund | 4 October 1805 | Simon Temple, South Shields | 27 January 1807 | Sold on 14 December 1815 |
| Fawn | 19 October 1805 | Thomas Owen, Topsham | 22 April 1806 | Sold on 20 August 1818 |
| Myrtle | 19 October 1805 | Richard Chapman, Bideford | 2 October 1807 | Broken up in June 1818 |
| Acorn | 19 October 1805 | George Crocker, Bideford | 30 October 1807 | Broken up in May 1819 |
| Racoon | 19 October 1805 | John Preston, Great Yarmouth | 30 March 1808 | Convict prison ship in 1819; sold in August 1838 |
| North Star | 19 October 1805 | John Cock, Dartmouth (see Note 3) |
21 April 1810 | Sold 6 March 1817 |
| Hesper | 19 October 1805 | John Cock, Dartmouth (see Note 3) |
3 July 1809 | Sold 8 July 1817 |
| Cherub | 19 November 1805 | John King, Dover | 27 December 1806 | Sold on 13 January 1820 |
| Minstrel | 19 November 1805 | Nicholas Bools & William Good, Bridport | 25 March 1807 | Sold 6 March 1817 |
| Wanderer | 19 November 1805 | James Betts, Mistleythorn | 29 September 1806 | Sold 6 March 1817 |
| Sapphire | 19 November 1805 | Josiah & Thomas Brindley, Frindsbury | 11 November 1806 | Sold 18 April 1822 |
| Blossom | 19 November 1805 | Robert Guillaume, Northam, Southampton | 10 December 1806 | Broken up in August 1848 |
| Partridge | 19 November 1805 | John Avery, Dartmouth | 15 July 1809 | Broken up in September 1816 |
| Egeria | 19 November 1805 | Nicholas Bools & William Good, Bridport | 31 October 1807 | Receiving ship at Devonport from 1825; broken up 1864 |
| Favourite (ii) | 30 November 1805 | Jabez Bailey, Ipswich | 13 September 1806 | Broen up in February 1821 |
| Tweed | 30 November 1805 | Thomas Iremonger, Littlehampton | 10 January 1807 | Wrecked off Newfoundland 5 November 1813 |
| Ranger (see Note 4) |
30 November 1805 | Richard Thorne, Fremington, Barnstaple | 5 September 1807 | Broken up in February 1814. |
| Jalouse | 15 January 1806 | Plymouth Royal Dockyard | 13 July 1809 | Sold 8 March 1819 |
| Serpent | 15 January 1806 | Sheerness Royal Dockyard | not laid down | Cancelled 8 September 1810 |
| Dauntless | 25 March 1806 | Deptford Royal Dockyard | 20 December 1808 | Sold for breaking on 27 January 1825 |
- Note 2: The initial contractor for the Anacreon, Owen of Ringmore, Devon, went bankrupt in 1810, so work was transferred to Plymouth Dockyard.
- Note 3: The initial contractor for North Star and Hesper, Benjamin Tanner of Dartmouth, went bankrupt in 1807 and the two contracts were transferred to John Cock.
- Note 4: The Ranger was altered on stocks and completed to a slightly longer design, being 111ΒΌ ft on the gundeck.
References
- British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1793-1817, Rif Winfield, Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4
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