HMS Assistance (1781)

H.M.S. Assistance in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, 1796, sketched by Captain George Gustavus Lennock, R.N.
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Assistance
Ordered	11 February 1778
Builder	Peter Baker, Liverpool
Laid down	4 July 1778
Launched	12 March 1781
Completed	By 31 December 1781
Fate	Wrecked on 29 March 1802
General characteristics
Class and type	50-gun Portland-class fourth rate
Tons burthen	1,053 37/94 bm
Length	145 ft 1 in (44.2 m) (overall) 119 ft 9 in (36.5 m) (keel)
Beam	40 ft 8 in (12.4 m)
Depth of hold	17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	350
Armament	Upper deck: 22 × 12-pounders Lower deck: 22 × 24-pounders Quarter deck: 4 × 6-pounders Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounders

HMS Assistance was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched during the American War of Independence and spent most of her career serving in American waters, particularly off Halifax and Newfoundland. Assistance was the flagship of several of the commanders of the station. She was in service at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, and was wrecked off Dunkirk in 1801.