HMS Hero (1759)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hero.

Hero
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Hero
Ordered	25 May 1756
Builder	Plymouth Dockyard
Launched	28 March 1759
Fate	Broken up, 1810
Notes	Prison ship from 1793
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	74-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	157420⁄94 (bm)
Length	166 ft 6 in (50.75 m) (gundeck)
Beam	46 ft 8 in (14.22 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

HMS Hero was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Thomas Slade built by Thomas Bucknall at Plymouth Dockyard and launched on 28 March 1759. She was the only ship built to her draught.^[1]

Hero and HMS Venus captured the French East Indiaman Bertin on 3 April 1761 and sent her into Plymouth. There the Royal Navy purchased her and commissioned as the third rate Belleisle.

From 1763 to 1767 Hero was commanded by Captain Paul Ourry.

She had a part in the Battle of Porto Praya, a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781, between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren.

Under the command of Captain Theophilus Jones, she took part in the 1783 Battle of Cuddalore.^[2]

She was converted to a prison ship in 1793, and was eventually broken up in 1810.^[1]

Citations

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 176.
2. The United Service Magazine. 1836. pp. 95–6. Retrieved 6 July 2014.

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.

• Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• Theal, George McCall (1897) History of South Africa under the administration of the Dutch East India Company, 1652 to 1795. (S. Sonnenschein & co., Ptd.).
• Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas

External links