HMS Swift (1777)

History
Class and type:	Swan class ship sloop
Name:	HMS Swift
Ordered:	16 October 1775
Builder:	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:	January 1776
Launched:	1 January 1777
Commissioned:	January 1777
Fate:	Burnt to avoid capture 22 November 1778
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	302  53⁄94 bm
Length:	96 ft 7 in (29.4 m) (gundeck) 79 ft 0 in (24.1 m) (keel)
Beam:	26 ft 10 in (8.2 m)
Depth of hold:	12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Complement:	125
Armament:	14 x 6-pounder guns

HMS Swift was a 14-gun ship-sloop of the Swan-class, launched on 1 January 1777. She was commissioned that month under Lieutenant George Keppel and sailed for North America on 27 March. Command later passed to Thomas Lennox Frederick who captained her in operations on the Delaware River. On 22 November 1778, she sank an American privateer, Rattlesnake, off Cape Henry. During the action Swift grounded and she was burnt by her crew to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.^[1]

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. 
• Winfield, Rif, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.

Coordinates: 39°34′41″N 74°18′00″W / 39.578°N 74.300°W / 39.578; -74.300