Hind-class sloop
The Hind class was a class of four sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1743 and 1746. Two were built by contract with commercial builders to a common design prepared by Sir Joseph Allin, Surveyor to the Navy and former Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard, and the other two were built in Deptford Dockyard itself.
Class overview | |
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Operators | Royal Navy |
Preceded by | Merlin class |
Built | 1744-1744 |
In commission | 1744-1772 |
Completed | 4 |
Lost | 2 |
General characteristics (common design) | |
Type | Sloop-of-war |
Tons burthen | 266 20⁄94 bm |
Length |
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Beam | 25 ft 10 in (7.9 m) |
Depth of hold | 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m) (vessels without platform in hold) |
Sail plan | Snow brig |
Complement | 110 |
Armament |
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The first two - Hind and Vulture - were ordered on 6 August 1743 to be built to replace two ex-Spanish vessels (the Rupert's Prize and Pembroke's Prize, captured in 1741 and 1742 respectively, and put into service by the British). Although initially armed with ten 6-pounder guns, this class was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck, enabling them to be re-armed with fourteen 6-pounders later in their careers.
Two more vessels to the same design - Jamaica and Trial - were ordered ten days later, on 18 August 1743; these were built under Allin's supervision at Deptford Dockyard, and were the only wartime sloops of this era be built in a Royal Dockyard.