HMS Active (1758)

HMS Active was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1758. She was one of the captors of the Spanish ship Hermione. After Hermione surrendered, her captors found that she carried a large cargo of gold and silver that would lead to the greatest single amount of prize money awarded to the crew of a British warship.

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

Active (right) engaging the Spanish frigate Hermione (centre) in 1762: sketch by Richard Wright
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Active
Ordered6 May 1757
BuilderThomas Stanton, Rotherhithe
Laid down13 June 1757
Launched11 January 1758
Completed2 March 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
CommissionedJanuary 1758
FateTaken by the French off San Domingo 1 September 1778
France
NameActive
Acquired1778 by capture
FateBroken up 1795
General characteristics
Class and type28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate
Displacement850 tons (French)
Tons burthen594 87⁄94 bm
Length
  • 118 ft 4 in (36.1 m) (gundeck)
  • 97 ft 5+3⁄8 in (29.7 m) (keel)
Beam33 ft 10+1⁄2 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • British service:200 officers and men
  • French service:130 (peace) and 210 (war)
Armament
  • British service
  • Upperdeck: 24 × 9-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 3-pounder guns
  • 12 × 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns
  • French service (from 1780):
  • Upper deck:24 x 9-pounder guns
  • Spar deck:6 x 4-pounder guns + 6 x 18-pounder carronades (British)
  • French service (from 1793):
  • Upper deck:24 x 8-pounder guns
  • Spar deck:6 x 4-pounder guns

On 1 September 1778 the French frigates Charmante and Dédaigneuse captured Active after a storm had dismasted her. The French Navy took Active into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1795.

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