HMS Vulture (1744)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Vulture.

Plans of the Vulture
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Vulture
Ordered6 August 1743
BuilderJohn Greaves, Limehouse
Laid down16 September 1743
Launched4 May 1744
Completed24 May 1744 at Deptford Dockyard
CommissionedApril 1744
FateSold to break up at Portsmouth on 30 January 1761
General characteristics
Class and typeHind-class sloop
Tons burthen267 3⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 91 ft 4 in (27.8 m) (gundeck)
  • 73 ft 10.875 in (22.5 m) (keel)
Beam26 ft 0.75 in (7.9 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 1.75 in (3.7 m)
Sail planSnow brig
Armament10 × 6-pounder guns (14 guns from 1748)

HMS Vulture was a 10-gun two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by John Greaves at Limehouse on the Thames River, England and launched on 4 May 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Her name was often written as Vulter.

The Vulture set sail from Portsmouth as part of a joint Anglo-Dutch fleet under Vice Admiral Thomas Davers in September 1744.[1] In the spring of 1746, the Vulture and the 14-gun sloop HMS Shark engaged two superior French men of war. The Vulture broke off from the action to alert two nearby British cruisers. The arrival of these reinforcements caused the French ships to surrender.[2] The sloop was part of a squadron that sailed from Britain in 1747 under Admirals Anson and Warren.[3] On 3 June, the Vulture intercepted the lightly armed Cherbourg dogger privateer L'Huitre in the English Channel between the British coast and the Isle of Wight. The sloop captured the privateer intact after a three-hour chase.[4]

After service from 1744 to 1749 (when her armament was increased to 14 × 6-pounder guns), and then from 1751 to 1758, she was sold to be taken to pieces at Portsmouth on 30 January 1761.

  1. ^ "London, September 18". Boston News-Letter. 27 December 1744.
  2. ^ "Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in Annapolis-Royal, to a Person in Boston". Boston News-Letter. 17 July 1746.
  3. ^ "Untitled". Boston News-Letter. 20 July 1747.
  4. ^ "Admiralty Office, June 6". New-York Gazette. 17 August 1747.