HMS Tartar was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.
Naval career Tartar was designed by Sir Thomas Slade and based on of 1748, "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns."
The ship was first commissioned in March 1756 under Captain John Lockhart, and earned a reputation as a fast sailer during service in the English Channel. She made many captures of French ships during the Seven Years' War, including 4 in 1756 and 7 the following year.Royal Navy history http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=C1751_-_1760
+Vessels captured or sunk by Tartar during the Seven Years' War Date Ship Home port Type Fate Ref. August 1756 Le Cerf Saint-Malo, France Privateer, 24 guns & 200 crew Captured, 23 killed Winfield 2007, p. 227 By October 1756 Hero Saint-Malo, France Privateer, 14 guns & 162 crew Captured, 1 killed October 1756 Le Grand Gideon Granville, France Privateer, 22 guns & 215 crew Captured, 7 killed October 1756 Le Montrozier La Rochelle, France Privateer, 3 guns & 190 crew Captured, 58 killed March 1757 La Victoire Le Havre, France Privateer, 24 guns & 275 crew Captured, 30 killed April 1757 Le Duc d'Aguillon Saint-Malo, France Privateer, 26 guns & 303 crew Captured, 47 killed May 1757 La Penelope Morlaix, France Privateer, 18 guns & 190 crew Captured, 14 killed October 1757 La Comtesse de Gramont Not recorded Privateer, 18 guns Captured November 1757 La Melpomene Bayonne, France Privateer, 26 guns Captured
During the peace that followed, the ship sailed to Barbados carrying a timekeeper built by John Harrison, as a part of a series of experiments used to determine longitude at sea.
American Revolutionary War:On 9 October, 1776 she was in action on the Hudson River, with and , forced her way upstream, whilst engaging, on either side, the two forts of Washington and Lee.Winfield 2007Clowes (Vol.III) p. 386 The next day she, , and captured the abandoned Connecticut Navy galley "Crane" in the Hudson River. She destroyed an American vessel off New Jersey 1 April 1777. and capturing the Spanish Santa Margarita of 28 guns off Cape Finisterre on 11 November 1779.
She went on to see further service during the French Revolutionary War. On 14 December the French frigate captured off the island of Ivica the collier Hannibal, which was sailing from Liverpool to Naples. However, eleven days later, Tartar recaptured Hannibal off Toulon and sent her into Corsica.Lloyd's Marine List, – Retrieved 1 December 2013.
Tartar was part of the fleet under Lord Hood that occupied Toulon in August 1793. With , , and Robust, she covered the landing, on 27 August, of 1500 troops sent to remove the republicans occupying the forts guarding the port.James (Vol.I) pp. 67 - 69 Once the forts were secure, the remainder of Hood's fleet, accompanied by 17 Spanish ships-of-the-line which had just arrived, sailed into the harbour.James (Vol.I) p. 69 Tartar was wrecked off Saint-Domingue on 1 April 1797.
Notes
References
Bibliography Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. .
Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792, Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. .
External links