HMS Crescent (1779)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain
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| Name: | HMS Crescent |
| Ordered: | 19 July 1777 |
| Builder: | James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol |
| Laid down: | 19 August 1777 |
| Launched: | March 1779 |
| Completed: | 30 June 1779 (at Plymouth Dockyard) |
| Commissioned: | ?September 1779 |
| Fate: | Captured by a French frigate 20 June 1781 |
 France
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| Name: | Crescent |
| Acquired: | 1781 by capture |
| Fate: | Wrecked, January 1786 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate |
| Displacement: | 850 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen: | 611 29⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 34 ft 0 in (10.4 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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HMS Crescent was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Crescent was launched in 1779. The French captured her in 1781. She was wrecked in 1786.
Crescent was first commissioned in about September 1779 under the command of Captain Charles Hope.
On 16 March 1781, Crescent, under the command of Captain Thomas Packenham, was one of over 40 warships in a fleet under the command of Admiral John Darby, in Britannia, that left Portsmouth that day for Gibraltar. One day later, there arrived at Falmouth a French privateer and a brig, her prize, that Crescent had sent in. A prize money notice from 31 December 1781 reported that the vessels in Darby's fleet would share in the prize money for the Duc de Chartres, brig Trois Amis, and the Spanish frigate Leocadia, which the fleet had captured on its way to Gibraltar.
Less than a month after she had left Portsmouth, on 12 April 1781 Crescent and Flora, Captain William Peere Williams, left Gibraltar as escorts to 13 vessels sailing to Minorca. They arrived at "Mahone" on 19 April. On 3 May Flora, and Crescent left Port Mahon, intending to pass the Gut of Gibraltar as quickly as possible.
On the morning of 23 May they saw eight Spanish vessels, a 74-gun ship, four xebecs, an armed ship, and two bomb vessels. The Spanish commodore set his squadron in chase, before sending all but his vessel and two xebecs, each of 36 guns, back to Spain. One of the xebecs caught up with Crescent and a three-hour running fight ensued during which Crescent sustained no casualties. Flora came up and fired some broadsides at the xebec, which fell back to repair damage. Flora had one man killed and one wounded due to poor gun-handling. The Spaniards resumed their chase in the evening but Flora and Crescent were able to elude them in the night. The engagement had driven the British vessels close to Cape Palos so they cruised there for two days in case to ensure that the enemy were not in the vicinity. They then sailed for the North African coast and were off Gibraltar on 29 May.
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Wikipedia