HMS Swift (1777)

Swift
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Swift
Ordered16 October 1775
BuilderPortsmouth Dockyard
Laid downJanuary 1776
Launched1 January 1777
CommissionedJanuary 1777
FateBurnt to avoid capture 22 November 1778
General characteristics
Tons burthen302 5394 bm
Length
  • 96 ft 7 in (29.4 m) (gundeck)
  • 79 ft 0 in (24.1 m) (keel)
Beam26 ft 10 in (8.2 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Complement125
Armament14 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Swift was a 14-gun Swan-class ship-sloop, launched on 1 January 1777. She was commissioned that month under Lieutenant George Keppel and sailed for North America on 27 March. Command later passed to Thomas Lennox Frederick, who captained her in operations on the Delaware River. On 22 November 1778, she was in pursuit of an American privateer, Rattlesnake, off Cape Henry in Chesapeake Bay. During the action Swift grounded on Middle Ground and she was burnt by her crew to prevent her from falling into enemy hands. Rattlesnake was wrecked also.[1][2]

  1. ^ Winfield p.282
  2. ^ "The Maritime War: The Revolutionary War in Princess Anne County" (PDF). vbgov.com. Retrieved 18 September 2021.