HMS Espion
Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Espion, meaning "spy". A fourth vessel was going to bear the name but was given ano0ther name instead:
- HMS Espion was a 16-gun French Levrette-class cutter launched in 1781, captured in 1782 and sold in 1784.[1]
- HMS Espion was the 16-gun French privateer sloop Robert that the British captured in 1793. The French recaptured her in 1794,[2] before the British recaptured her in 1795.[3] There being another Espion in service by then, the British renamed her HMS Spy. Spy was sold in 1801.
- HMS Espion was the French frigate Atalante, which the British captured in 1794 and later converted to a store or troopship. She was wrecked, with no loss of life, in 1799.[4]
- Espion was the name initially chosen for Little Belt.
Notes
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 12277. p. 1. 9 March 1782.
- ↑ Hepper (1794), p.77.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 13757. p. 207. 3 March 1795.
- ↑ Hepper (1994), p.93.
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
- Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.