HMS Diamond (1774)

The fourth HMS Diamond was a modified Lowestoffe-class fifth-rate frigate ordered in 1770, launched in 1774, but did not begin service until 1776. Diamond served off the eastern North American coast and shared in the capture at least one brig during the American Revolutionary War. The frigate was paid off in 1779, but returned to service the same year after being coppered. Diamond sailed to the West Indies in 1780, was paid off a final time in 1783 and sold in 1784.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Diamond.
Diamond
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Diamond
Operator: Royal Navy
Ordered: 25 December 1770
Builder: Hodgson & Co., Hull
Laid down: May 1771
Launched: 28 May 1774
Completed: 13 June 1774
Commissioned: May 1776
Fate: Sold, December 1784.
General characteristics
Class and type: Lowestoffe-class frigate
Tons burthen: 709 ​76⁄94 (bm)
Length: 130 ft 6 in (39.78 m)
Beam: 35 ft 1 in (10.69 m)
Depth of hold: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 220
Armament:
  • UD: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns

Construction and service

Diamond was ordered on 25 December 1770 as one of five fifth-rate frigates of 32 guns each contained in the emergency frigate-building programme inaugurated when the likelihood of war with Spain arose over the ownership of the Falkland Islands (eight sixth-rate frigates of 28 guns each were ordered at the same time). Sir Thomas Slade's design for the Lowestoffes was approved, but was revised to produce a more rounded midships section; the amended design was approved on 3 January 1771 by Hawke's outgoing Admiralty Board, just before it was replaced. The contract to build Diamond was awarded to Hodgson & Co at Hull, the keel being laid in May 1771, and the frigate was launched on 28 May 1774, at a cost of £11,506.9.1d. She sailed from Hull on 13 June 1774 for Chatham Dockyard, where she remained for nearly two years before she was completed and fitted out to the Navy Board's needs (for £4,169.8.6d) in February to May 1776.

Diamond was first commissioned in February 1776 under Captain Charles Fielding. On completion, she sailed for North America on 20 July 1776.

On 21 October 1778, Diamond and the brig Diligent stopped the brig Recovery at 42°17′N 69°00′W. Recovery was sailing from Portsmouth to Charles Town with a cargo of lumber, and her captors sent her into New York.[1]

Fate

Diamond was paid off into ordinary in 1779, but after being coppered she was recommissioned in November 1779 under Captain William Forster, and sailed for Jamaica on 13 April 1780. Diamond was finally paid off in August 1783 and was sold at Plymouth (for £405) on 30 December 1784.

Citations
  1. "No. 11950". The London Gazette. 2 February 1779. p. 2.

References
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.
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