HMS Seahorse (1748)

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

Drawing showing the profile of the Seahorse, 1770
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Seahorse
Ordered4 February 1748
BuilderJohn Barnard, Harwich
Laid down23 February 1748
Launched13 September 1748
CommissionedNovember 1748
FateSold on 30 December 1784
Great Britain
NameRavensworth
NamesakeRavensworth
Owner
  • 1784: Richard Buller
  • 1788: C. Herries & Co.
Acquired1784 by purchase
FateSold 1789
France
NameCitoyen
Acquired1789 by purchase
FateLast listed 1801
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and typeSixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen5121⁄94,[3] or 519 (bm)
Length
  • Royal Navy
    • 114 ft 0 in (34.75 m) (overall)
    • 95 ft 4 in (29.06 m) (keel)
  • After rebuild
    • 115 ft 10 in (35.31 m) (overall)
    • 92 ft 4 in (28.14 m) (keel)
Beam
  • Royal Navy: 32 ft (9.8 m)
  • After rebuild: 32 ft 3+1⁄2 in (9.843 m)
Depth of hold
  • Royal Navy: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
  • After rebuild: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • Royal Navy: 160
  • Citoyen: 160–224
Armament
  • Royal Navy
    • Upper deck: 22 × 9-pounder guns
    • QD: 2 × 3-pounder guns
  • Citoyen
    • 1793
      • Upper deck: 22 × 8-pounder guns
      • Fc & QD: 8 × 4-pounder guns + 2 × 16-pounder carronades
    • 1800: 20 × 8-pounder + 6 × 4-pounder guns

HMS Seahorse was a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1748. She is perhaps most famous as the ship on which a young Horatio Nelson served as a midshipman.[4] She also participated in four battles off the coast of India between 1781 and 1783. The Royal Navy sold her in 1784 and she then became the mercantile Ravensworth. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1786 and 1788. In 1789, she was sold to the French East India Company which had her refitted and renamed her Citoyen. In 1793 the French Navy purchased her and used her as a frigate. She was last listed in 1801.

  1. ^ Winfield (2007), p. 255.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Hackman (2001), p. 181.
  4. ^ Nelson, Horatio; Colin White (2005). Nelson, the New Letters. Boydell Press. ISBN 1-84383-130-9.