HMS Leda (1800)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Leda |
| Ordered: | 27 April 1796 |
| Builder: | Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 1 May 1799 |
| Launched: | 18 November 1800 |
| Completed: | 19 December 1800 |
| Commissioned: | November 1800 |
| Honours and awards: |
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt" |
| Fate: | Wrecked 31 January 1808 off West Angle, Milford Haven, Wales,UK |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Leda-class frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 1071 11⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 40 ft 1 in (12.22 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 284 (later 300); |
| Armament: |
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HMS Leda, launched in 1800, was the lead ship of a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. Leda's design was based on the French Hébé, which the British had captured in 1782. (Hébé herself was the name vessel for the French Hébé-class frigates. Hébé, therefore, has the rare distinction of being the model for both a French and a British frigate class.) Leda was wrecked at the mouth of Milford Haven in 1808, Capt Honeyman was exonerated of all blame, as it was a pilot error.
Captain George Johnstone Hope commissioned Leda in November 1800. In 1801 he sailed her in the English Channel and to the coast of Egypt.
On 12 March 1801, Leda recaptured Bolton, Captain Watson, a 20-gun letter of marque that had sailed from Demerara to Liverpool some 6 weeks previously in company with Union and Dart. These two vessels were also letters of marque, all carrying valuable cargoes of sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton. During the voyage Union started to take on water so her crew transferred to Bolton. Then Bolton and Dart parted company in a gale. Next, Bolton had the misfortune to meet the French privateer Gironde, which was armed with 26 guns and had a crew of 260 men. Gironde captured Bolton in an hour-long fight that killed two passengers and wounded Watson and five men. Although Gironde was damaged, she had suffered no casualties.Bolton was also carrying ivory, a tiger, and a large collection of birds, monkeys, and the like.
Then on 5 April Leda captured the French ship Desiree, of eight men and 70 tons. She was sailing from Bordeaux to Brell with a cargo of wheat. Four days later Leda recaptured the Portuguese ship Cæsar, of 10 men and 100 tons. Cæsar had been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon with a cargo of sundries when the French privateer Laura had captured her.
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Wikipedia