HMS Spitfire (1782)

Spitfire
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Spitfire
Ordered	28 November 1780
Builder	Stephen Teague, Ipswich
Laid down	December 1780
Launched	19 March 1782
Completed	By 18 July 1782
Fate	Sold for breaking up on 30 July 1825
General characteristics
Class and type	Tisiphone-class fireship
Tons burthen	4226⁄94 (bm)
Length	108 ft 10 in (33.2 m) (overall) 90 ft 8 in (27.6 m) (keel)
Beam	29 ft 7 in (9.0 m)
Depth of hold	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	55 (as fireship) 121 (as sloop)
Armament	As fireship: 8 × 12-pounder guns As sloop: 14 × 18-pounder carronades 2 × 6-pounder guns 4 × swivel guns

HMS Spitfire was a Tisiphone-class fireship of the Royal Navy. She served during the years of peace following the end of the American War of Independence, and by the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, had been reclassified as a 14-gun sloop-of-war. Spitfire went on to serve under a number of notable commanders during a successful career that saw her capture a considerable number of French privateers and small naval vessels. She spent most of her career in Home waters, though during the later part of her life she sailed further afield, to the British stations in North America and West Africa. She survived the Napoleonic Wars and was eventually sold in 1825 after a period spent laid up.