Cormorant class ship-sloop

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
Beam:	29 ft 7 in
Depth of hold:	9 ft 0 in
Propulsion:	Sails
Complement:	125 (121 from 1794)
Armament:	As built: Sixteen 6-pdr long guns Later: Sixteen 24-pdr carronades Eight 12-pdr carronades

The Cormorant class were built as a 16-gun class of 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 32pdr carronades were fitted instead of the 6pdrs 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

Name	Ordered	Builder	Launched	Notes
Cormorant	18 February 1793	Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe	2 January 1794
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.
Hornet	18 February 1793	Marmaduke Stalkart, Rotherhithe	3 February 1794
Lynx	18 February 1793	William Cleverly, Gravesend	14 February 1794	Caused an international incident when she fired on the USRC Eagle
Lark	18 February 1793	Thomas Pitcher, Northfleet	15 February 1794
Hazard	18 February 1793	Josiah & Thomas Brindley, Frindsbury	3 March 1794
Stork	6 November 1794	Deptford Royal Dockyard	29 November 1794
Hyacinth	12 July 1805	John Preston, Great Yarmouth	30 August 1806
Sabrina	12 July 1805	Robert Adams, Chapel, Southampton	1 September 1806
Herald	12 July 1805	Carver & Corney, Littlehampton	27 December 1806
Anacreon	12 July 1805	Plymouth Royal Dockyard	1 May 1813	Initial contractor, Owen of Ringmore, Devon, went bankrupt in 1810, so work was transferred to Plymouth
Rosamund	4 October 1805	Simon Temple, South Shields	27 January 1807
Fawn	19 October 1805	Thomas Owen, Topsham	22 April 1806
Acorn	19 October 1805	George Crocker, Bideford	30 October 1807
Racoon	19 October 1805	John Preston, Great Yarmouth	30 March 1808
North Star	19 October 1805	John Cock, Dartmouth	21 April 1810	Initial contractor, Benjamin Tanner of Dartmouth, Devon, went bankrupt in 1807, so contract was transferred to John Cock
Myrtle	19 October 1805	Richard Chapman, Bideford	2 October 1807
Hesper	19 October 1805	John Cock, Dartmouth	3 July 1809	Initial contractor, Benjamin Tanner of Dartmouth, Devon, went bankrupt in 1807, so contract was transferred to John Cock
Cherub	19 November 1805	John King, Dover	27 December 1806
Minstrel	19 November 1805	Nicholas Bools & William Good, Bridport	25 March 1807
Wanderer	19 November 1805	James Betts, Mistleythorn	29 September 1806
Sapphire	19 November 1805	Josiah & Thomas Brindley, Frindsbury	11 November 1806
Blossom	19 November 1805	Robert Guillaume, Northam, Southampton	10 December 1806
Partridge	19 November 1805	John Avery, Dartmouth	15 July 1809
Egeria	19 November 1805	Nicholas Bools & William Good, Bridport	31 October 1807
Favourite (ii)	30 November 1805	Jabez Bailey, Ipswich	13 September 1806
Tweed	30 November 1805	Thomas Iremonger, Littlehampton	10 January 1807
Ranger	30 November 1805	Richard Thorne, Fremington, Barnstaple	5 September 1807	Altered on stocks and completed to a slightly longer design.
Jalouse	15 January 1806	Plymouth Royal Dockyard	13 July 1809
Serpent	15 January 1806	Sheerness Royal Dockyard	not laid down	Cancelled 8 September 1810
Dauntless	25 March 1806	Deptford Royal Dockyard	20 December 1808

References

• British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1793-1817, Rif Winfield, Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4