HMS Racehorse (1757)

View of the Racehorse and Carcass August 7th 1773, when inclosed in the ice in Lat. 80°37'N. Engraved for Payne's Universal Geography Vol V Page 481', Page; after John Cleveley
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Racehorse
Builder	Nantes
Acquired	28 April 1757
Renamed	HMS Thunder (on 24 October 1775)
Reclassified	Fireship between April and May 1758 Bomb vessel between 1758 and 1760 Discovery ship in 1773 Bomb vessel between 1775 and 1778
Fate	Captured by the French on 14 August 1778
General characteristics as sloop
Class and type	18-gun sloop of war
Tons burthen	385 66⁄94 (bm)
Length	96 ft 7 in (29.44 m) (overall) 77 ft 1+1⁄4 in (23.501 m) (keel)
Beam	30 ft 8 in (9.35 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 4 in (4.06 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	120
Armament	18 × 6-pounder guns + 14 × 1⁄2-pounder swivels
General characteristics as fireship
Class and type	Fireship
Complement	45
Armament	8 × 6-pounder guns + 8 × 1⁄2-pounder swivels
General characteristics as bomb vessel
Class and type	Bomb vessel
Complement	70
Armament	1 × 13 in mortar + 1 × 10 in mortar 8 × 6-pounder guns + 12 × 1⁄2-pounder swivels

HMS Racehorse was an 18-gun ship-rigged (i.e. three-masted) sloop of the Royal Navy. Originally the French ship Marquis de Vaudreuil, she was captured by the Royal Navy in 1757 and refitted as a survey vessel for the 1773 Phipps expedition towards the North Pole. Renamed HMS Thunder in 1775, she was captured back by the French in 1778.