HMS Active (1758)

Active (right) engaging the Spanish frigate Hermione (centre) in 1762: sketch by Richard Wright
History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Active
Ordered:	6 May 1757
Builder:	Thomas Stanton, Rotherhithe
Laid down:	13 June 1757
Launched:	11 January 1758
Completed:	2 March 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Commissioned:	January 1758
Fate:	Taken by the French off San Domingo 1 September 1778
France
Name:	Active
Acquired:	1778 by capture
Fate:	Broken up 1795
General characteristics
Class and type:	28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate
Displacement:	850 tons (French)
Tons burthen:	594  87⁄94 bm
Length:	118 ft 4 in (36.1 m) (gundeck) 97 ft 5 3⁄8 in (29.7 m) (keel)
Beam:	33 ft 10 1⁄2 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold:	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	British service:200 officers and men French service:130 (peace) and 210 (war)
Armament:	British service Upperdeck: 24 × 9-pounder guns QD: 4 × 3-pounder guns 12 ×  1⁄2-pounder swivel guns French service (from 1780): Upper deck:24 x 9-pounder guns Spar deck:6 x 4-pounder guns + 6 x 18-pounder carronades (British) French service (from 1793): Upper deck:24 x 8-pounder guns Spar deck:6 x 4-pounder guns

HMS Active was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1758. She was one of the captors of the Spanish ship Hermione. After Hermione surrendered, her captors found that she carried a large cargo of gold and silver that would lead to the greatest single amount of prize money awarded to the crew of a British warship.

On 1 September 1778 two French frigates captured Active after a storm had dismasted her. The French Navy took Active into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1795.

Active was oak-built, one of 18 vessels forming part of the Coventry class of frigates. The naval architect Sir Thomas Slade designed the class to the dimensions of HMS Tartar, which had been launched in 1756 and was responsible for capturing five French privateers in her first twelve months at sea. The Admiralty issued contracts for Active's construction to commercial shipwright Thomas Stanton of Rotherhithe on 23 May 1757, with the stipulation that he complete the work within nine months. Her keel was laid on 13 June 1757 and work proceeded apace, with the new-built vessel launched ahead of schedule on 11 January 1758. As built, Active was 118 ft 4 in (36.1 m) long with a 97 ft 5 in (29.7 m) keel, a beam of 33 ft 10 in (10.31 m), and with a burthen of 594 ⁸⁷⁄₉₄ tons (bm). Construction costs were £6,229, paid on a contract rate of £10 and 12 shillings per ton (bm).

In late February 1758 Active sailed to Deptford Dockyard to receive her guns and naval stores, and to embark her crew of 200 officers and men. Her armament comprised 24 nine-pounder cannons located along her gun deck, supported by four three-pounder cannons on the quarterdeck and twelve ½-pounder swivel guns ranged along her sides.