HMS Assistance (1781)

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

H.M.S. Assistance in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, 1796, sketched by Captain George Gustavus Lennock, R.N.
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Assistance
Ordered11 February 1778
BuilderPeter Baker, Liverpool
Laid down4 July 1778
Launched12 March 1781
CompletedBy 31 December 1781
FateWrecked on 29 March 1802
General characteristics
Class and type50-gun Portland-class fourth rate
Tons burthen1,053 37/94 bm
Length
  • 145 ft 1 in (44.2 m) (overall)
  • 119 ft 9 in (36.5 m) (keel)
Beam40 ft 8 in (12.4 m)
Depth of hold17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement350
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.