Robert (1793 ship)

Spy, Captain Welham Clarke, off Wight; C. Slade, 1803
History
France
Name	Robert
Builder	Nantes
Launched	1793
Captured	13 June 1793
Great Britain
Name	HMS Espion
Acquired	13 June 1793 by capture
Captured	22 July 1794
France
Name	Espion
Acquired	22 July 1794 by capture
Captured	4 March 1795
Great Britain
Name	HMS Spy
Acquired	4 March 1795 by capture
Captured	Sold 7 September 1801
UK
Name	Spy
Owner	1802:James Swanzy 1803:Hurry & Co.
Acquired	1801 by purchase
Captured	mid-1805
General characteristics [1][2]
Displacement	400 tons (French)
Tons burthen	Robert: 300 tons (French; "of load")[3] HMS:27583⁄94,[1] or 294,<refe name=LoM/> or 295,[4] or 300,[5] (bm)
Length	86 ft 5+1⁄2 in (26.4 m) (overall); 69 ft 6+3⁄8 in (21.2 m) (keel)
Beam	27 ft 3+3⁄4 in (8.3 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 0 in (4.0 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	Robert: 100-170[3] HMS Espion: 120[1] Espion: 135-146,[2] but 140 at capture HMS Spy: 120 Spy 1803: 45[6] Spy 1805: 107[6]
Armament	Robert: 18 × 6-pounder guns + 8-12 × 1-pounder swivel guns[3][7] HMS Espion: 16 × 16-pounder guns Espion:18 × 6-pounder guns HMS Spy:16 × 6-pounder guns Spy 1803: 24 × 12 & 4-pounder guns[6] Spy 1805:6 × 6-pounder + 10 × 12-pounder guns[4] Spy 1805: 8 × 4-pounder guns + 18 × 18-pounder carronades + 2 × swivel guns[6]
Armour	Timber

Robert was a 16-gun French privateer corvette launched in 1793 at Nantes. The British captured her in 1793 and named her HMS Espion. The French recaptured her in 1794 and took her into service as Espion. The British recaptured her in 1795, but there being another Espion in service by then, the British renamed their capture HMS Spy. She served under that name until the Navy sold her in 1801. Spy then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, a merchantman to South America, and privateer again. The French captured her in mid-1805 and sent her into Guadeloupe.