HMS Hermione (1782)
A print by Thomas Whitcombe, depicting the Santa Cecilia, the former HMS Hermione, being cut out in Puerto Cabello by boats from Edward Hamilton's HMS Surprise in 1799
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| History | |
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 Great Britain
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| Name: | HMS Hermione |
| Ordered: | 20 March 1780 |
| Builder: | Sydenham Teast, Bristol |
| Laid down: | June 1780 |
| Launched: | 9 September 1782 |
| Commissioned: |
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| Out of service: |
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.svg){kind=small} Spain
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| Name: | Santa Cecilia |
| Acquired: | 27 September 1797 |
| Captured: | By the Royal Navy on 25 October 1799 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Retaliation |
| Acquired: | Captured on 25 October 1799 |
| Commissioned: | September 1800 |
| Renamed: | HMS Retribution on 31 January 1800 |
| Fate: | Broken up in June 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 32-gun fifth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 714 (bm) |
| Length: | 129 ft 3 1⁄2 in (39.4 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft 5 1⁄2 in (10.8 m) |
| Draught: |
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| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 8 in (3.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Complement: | 220 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Hermione was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was notorious for having the bloodiest mutiny in British naval history, which saw her captain and most of the officers killed. The then handed the ship over to the Spanish, with whom she remained for two years before being cut out and returned to Royal Navy service under the names Retaliation and later Retribution.
HMS Hermione was the lead ship of a six-ship class of frigates designed by Edward Hunt and termed the Hermione class. She was launched on 9 September 1782 from Teast's of Bristol, having cost £11,350.14s.4d to build, with a further £4,570.2s.2d spent on dockyard expenses, and £723.16s.9d on fitting out.
She was commissioned initially under Captain Thomas Lloyd, who commanded her until she was paid off in April 1783. She recommissioned that same month under Captain John Stone, who sailed her to Nova Scotia on 17 October, after which she was paid off in 1785. Hermione may have then been recommissioned under Captain William H. Ricketts during the Spanish Armament of 1790, though this is uncertain. She did, however, undergo a repair between October 1790 and June 1792, followed by a period spent refitting at Chatham Dockyard until January 1793. She was recommissioned in December 1792 under Captain John Hills, under whom she sailed to Jamaica on 10 March 1793.
She served in the West Indies during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars. On 4 June, Hermione, under Hills, participated in the British attack on Port-au-Prince, where she led a small squadron that accompanied the troop transports. Hermione had five men killed and six wounded in the attack. The British captured the town and its defences, and in taking the port they also captured a large number of merchant vessels.Hermione was among the vessels that shared in the capture on 17 July of the Lady Walterstasse. Hills died from yellow fever (fatal "Black Vomit"), at Port Royal, Jamaica, in September 1794. Captain Philip Wilkinson replaced Hills and was himself replaced in February 1797 — the year of the Spithead and Nore mutinies — by Captain Hugh Pigot.
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Wikipedia