HMS Hector was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 May 1774 at Deptford.[2]

Going aboard Hector in 1891
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Hector
Ordered14 January 1771
BuilderAdams, Deptford
Laid downApril 1771
Launched27 May 1774
Honours and
awards
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"[1]
FateBroken up, 1816
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeRoyal Oak-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1622 (bm)
Length168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Depth of hold20 ft (6.1 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • Gundeck: 28 ×  32-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 28 ×  18-pounder guns
  • QD: 14 ×  9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 ×  9-pounder guns

Career edit

 
HMS Hector and Bristol in distress during the Great Hurricane of 1780

On 10 January 1778 she captured French merchant ship "Thomas Koulican" (or Kouli Kan) at (46°00′N 09°00′W / 46.000°N 9.000°W / 46.000; -9.000).[3] On 9 May 1801 Hector, Kent, and Cruelle unsuccessfully chased the French corvette Heliopolis, which eluded them and slipped into Alexandria.[4]

Because Hector served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.[Note 1]

Fate edit

Hector was converted for use as a prison ship in 1808, and was broken up in 1816.[2]

Notes edit

  1. ^ A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.[5]

Citations edit

  1. ^ "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
  2. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p179.
  3. ^ "NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution" (PDF). history.navy.mil. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  4. ^ James (1837), p.93.
  5. ^ "No. 17915". The London Gazette. 3 April 1823. p. 633.

References edit

External links edit