HMS Magpie (1826)

Magpie's sister ship HMS Monkey
History
United Kingdom
Name	Magpie
Ordered	16 July 1825
Builder	McLean, Jamaica
Launched	June 1826
Commissioned	June 1826
Fate	Wrecked, 27 August 1826
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Magpie-class schooner
Tons burthen	70 (bm)
Length	53 ft 3 in (16.2 m) (gundeck) 40 ft 8+1⁄4 in (12.4 m) (keel)
Beam	18 ft (5.5 m)
Depth of hold	7 ft 3 in (2.2 m)
Complement	35
Armament	2 × 9-pounder guns 2 × 18-pounder carronades

HMS Magpie was a 4-gun Magpie-class schooner of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Jamaica in June 1826 as the lead ship of the class. Her design was based on that of HMS Assiduous. While searching for pirates off the coast of Cuba on 27 August Magpie capsized in a squall. Only nine men from her crew of thirty-five survived the initial wreck. Clinging to one of the ship's boats, three men were killed by shark attacks, and a further four died from the heat and lack of water before the boat was discovered on 29 August, rescuing the final two survivors.