HMS Ariel (1777)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Ariel |
| Ordered: | 3 July 1776 |
| Builder: | John Perry & Co, Blackwall Yard |
| Laid down: | July 1776 |
| Launched: | 7 July 1777 |
| Completed: | 12 August 1777 |
| Commissioned: | July 1777 |
| Captured: | By the French Navy on 10 September 1779 |
| Career (France) |  |
| Name: | Ariel |
| Acquired: | Captured on 10 September 1779 |
| Out of service: | Lent to the Continental Navy between October 1780 and June 1781 |
| Fate: | Burnt in March 1793 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 20-gun Sphinx-class sixth-rate post ship |
| Tons burthen: | 435.2 tons |
| Length: |
108 ft (33 m) (gundeck); 89 ft 5 in (27.25 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 30 ft 3 in (9.22 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 9 ft 7.5 in (2.934 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 140 |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Ariel was a 20-gun Sphinx-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She served during the American Revolutionary War.
British career
She was ordered from John Perry & Co.'s Blackwall Yard on 3 July 1776, was laid down that month and was launched on 7 July 1777. She was commissioned under Captain John Jackson, and initially used to cruise in the North Sea in August 1777. After a brief spell off the Norwegian and Danish coasts, she sailed for North America. On 27 August 1778 she captured the American privateer Resistance, before passing under the command of Captain Charles Phipps. Phipps and the Ariel captured the American privateer New Broom on 22 October 1778. The next year, in February, Captain Thomas Mackenzie took over command of the Ariel.
Capture
On 10 September 1779, whilst the Ariel was cruising off Georgia, the 32-gun French Amazone, then part of d’Estaing’s fleet, brought her to battle. After losing four of his crew dead and another 20 wounded, Mackenzie surrendered Ariel. The French took the captured ship into service as Ariel.
The French lent her to the American Continental Navy in October 1780, where she served briefly as USS Ariel. The Americans returned her to the French in June 1781. She was burnt on the Scheldt in March 1793.
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. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Winfield, Rif. 2007. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, (Seaforth), ISBN 1-86176-295-X
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