HMS Triton (1773)

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Triton
Ordered	25 December 1770
Builder	Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard
Laid down	February 1771
Launched	1 October 1773
Completed	4 November 1775 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Commissioned	August 1775
Fate	Taken to pieces at Deptford in January 1796
General characteristics
Class and type	Modified Mermaid-class frigate
Tons burthen	620 21⁄94 (bm)
Length	124 ft 1 in (37.82 m) (gundeck) 103 ft 4.625 in (31.51188 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 7 in (10.24 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	200 officers and men
Armament	28 guns comprising Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder cannon Quarterdeck 4 × 3-pounder cannon 12 swivels.

HMS Triton was a modified Mermaid-class sixth-rate 28-gun frigate of the Royal Navy. She was ordered on 25 December during the Falklands Crisis of 1770, a conflict that was resolved the following January, before work on her had begun. Launched in October 1773, she first served in the American Revolutionary War in operations against the rebels on the St Lawrence River. In 1780, she sailed with Rear admiral George Rodney's fleet for the Relief of Gibraltar and on 8 January, assisted in an attack on a Caracas Convoy off the coast of Spain, capturing several Spanish merchant ships. Later that month she played a role at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. During the French Revolutionary Wars Triton served on the Jamaica Station and was present at the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782. She finally paid off in November 1795 and was broken up at Deptford Dockyard in January 1796.