HMS Spy (1756)

HMS Spy was a Bonetta-class sloop launched at Rotherhithe in 1756 for the Royal Navy. The Navy sold her in 1773. From 1776, or perhaps earlier she was a transport. Then from 1780 to 1783, as Mars, she was first a privateer and then a slave ship, engaged in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. Between 1783 and 1787 her name was Tartar, and she traded with the Mediterranean. From 1787, as Southampton, she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made at least four complete whaling voyages and was last listed in 1792.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Spy, Spy (ship), Mars (disambiguation), Tartar (ship), and Southampton (disambiguation).

History
Great Britain
NameHMS Spy
Ordered9 July 1755
BuilderRobert Inwood, Rotherhithe
Laid down25 July 1755
Launched3 February 1756
FateSold 3 September 1773.
Great Britain
NameSpy
AcquiredCirca 1773 by purchase
Renamed
  • 1780: Mars
  • 1783: Tartar
  • 1787: Southampton
FateLast listed 1792
General characteristics
Class and typeBonetta-class sloop
Tons burthen222, or 230, or 250 (bm)
Length
  • Overall: 85 ft 10 in (26.2 m)
  • Keel: 70 ft 3+1⁄8 in (21.4 m)
Beam24 ft 5 in (7.4 m)
Depth of hold10 ft 10 in (3.3 m)
Sail planSnow
Complement
  • Privateer: 130
  • Royal Navy: 100
Armament
  • Privateer: 24 × 6&4–pounder guns + 10 swivel guns
  • Royal Navy: 10 × short 6-pouner guns + 12 × ½-pounder swivel guns
  • 1779: 6 × 3-pounder guns
  • 1781: 16 × 6-pounder + 4 × 4-pounder guns
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