HMS Racehorse (1757)

HMS Racehorse was an 18-gun ship-rigged (i.e. three-masted) sloop of the Royal Navy. Originally the French ship Marquis de Vaudreuil, she was captured by the Royal Navy in 1757 and refitted as a survey vessel for the 1773 Phipps expedition towards the North Pole. Renamed HMS Thunder in 1775, she was captured back by the French in 1778.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Racehorse and HMS Thunder.

View of the Racehorse and Carcass August 7th 1773, when inclosed in the ice in Lat. 80°37'N. Engraved for Payne's Universal Geography Vol V Page 481', Page; after John Cleveley
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Racehorse
BuilderNantes
Acquired28 April 1757
RenamedHMS Thunder (on 24 October 1775)
Reclassified
  • Fireship between April and May 1758
  • Bomb vessel between 1758 and 1760
  • Discovery ship in 1773
  • Bomb vessel between 1775 and 1778
FateCaptured by the French on 14 August 1778
General characteristics as sloop
Class and type18-gun sloop of war
Tons burthen385 66⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 96 ft 7 in (29.44 m) (overall)
  • 77 ft 1+1⁄4 in (23.501 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 8 in (9.35 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 4 in (4.06 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement120
Armament18 × 6-pounder guns + 14 × ½-pounder swivels
General characteristics as fireship
Class and typeFireship
Complement45
Armament8 × 6-pounder guns + 8 × ½-pounder swivels
General characteristics as bomb vessel
Class and typeBomb vessel
Complement70
Armament
  • 1 × 13in mortar + 1 × 10in mortar
  • 8 × 6-pounder guns + 12 × ½-pounder swivels
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