HMS Swallow (1744)

Design of Swallow
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Swallow
Namesake	Swallow
Ordered	7 July 1743
Builder	John Buxton, The Pageants
Cost	£3,752
Laid down	30 July 1743
Launched	17 February 1744
Completed	25 March 1744
Commissioned	3 February 1744
Fate	Wrecked 24 December 1744
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Merlin-class sloop
Tons burthen	27155⁄94 (bm)
Length	Gundeck: 91 ft 4 in (27.8 m) Keel: 73 ft 11+3⁄4 in (22.5 m)
Beam	26 ft 3+1⁄4 in (8 m)
Depth of hold	6 ft 11 in (2.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	110
Armament	10 × 6-pounder guns + 14 × ½-pounder swivels

HMS Swallow was a 10-gun Merlin-class sloop of the Royal Navy that prior to her commissioning was briefly known as HMS Galgo. Launched in 1744, the ship sailed to North America in June, bringing news of the start of King George's War and capturing two merchant vessels. Serving off South Carolina, on 24 December Swallow was sailing from Charleston to New Providence when she was wrecked on the Bahama Banks. Returning to Charleston in the sloop Pelham, the Irish members of Swallow's crew planned a mutiny on 21 January 1745 to take the ship to St. Augustine, Florida, but were arrested before they could do so.