Sloop-of-war - Notable Sloops

Notable Sloops

• Perhaps the most famous sloop was HMS Resolution, in which Captain James Cook made his second and third Pacific voyages. This was not a purpose-built naval sloop, but was a former merchant collier purchased by the Royal Navy and adapted for exploration purposes. Cook called the Resolution "the ship of my choice", and "the fittest for service of any I have seen".

• USS Independence, a sloop of the Continental Navy which served on diplomatic missions to France. Independence was the first ship acquired by the Continental Congress for use during the American Revolutionary War. She captured two British prizes during her cruises to Europe.

• In 1780, HMS Vulture, a Swan class sloop bearing 16 six-pounders and a crew of 99 seamen delivered Major John Andre to his meeting with General Benedict Arnold, near Haverstraw, N.Y., to finalize plans for Arnold's surrender of West Point to the British. After Andre's capture and the unmasking of the plot, Arnold fled to British lines, borne down the Hudson River aboard the Vulture.

• HMS Beagle, a Cherokee-class brig-sloop re-rigged as a three-masted barque, is famous as the ship Charles Darwin sailed around the world in between 1831 and 1836.

• In 1804 Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, commissioned Diamond Rock, a small island south of Fort-de-France in Martinique, as HM Sloop-of-War Fort Diamond, following his establishment of a fortified garrison on the rock.

• In 1805, HMS Pickle (a Bermuda sloop) brought back news of the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

• In 1805 Lord Cochrane commanded HMS Speedy, a brig-sloop of 14 guns, through a series of famous exploits in the Mediterranean. The Speedy served as the inspiration for the fictional Jack Aubrey's first command, the Sophie.

• USS Eagle, a United States Navy sloop-of-war which was captured by the British in Canadian waters. Later she was liberated by the U.S. Navy at the Battle of Lake Champlain.

• In 1813, HMS Racoon was dispatched to Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River during the War of 1812 to seize the post, which as it turned out had already been sold to the North-West Company; the fort was renamed by the ship's Captain Black as Fort George.

• USS Wasp, a U.S. Navy sloop which served with distinction during the War of 1812. She is responsible for sinking or capturing at least four British warships and capturing several other merchant vessels. This within months of her commissioning and before her own sinking during a Caribbean storm in October 1814.

• In 1826, Karteria, acting as a warship of the Navy of the 1st Hellenic Republic under the command of Capt Frank Abney Hastings, was the first steam warship to see action. At the time the European armadas had no steam-warships.

• USS Portsmouth a U.S. Navy sloop-of-war which served during the Mexican-American War in the California Campaign. She participated in combat during the Second Opium War, specifically the Battle of the Pearl River Forts. Later she served in the American Civil War, at the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

• USS Constellation, an 1854 sloop which is currently a museum ship. It was the last all-sail warship designed and built by the U. S. Navy.

• In 1949, HMS Amethyst, a Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy became involved in an international incident when she became trapped in the Yangtze River by Communist Chinese shore batteries. She made a famous escape on 30 July 1949, later turned into a feature film Yangtse Incident: The Story of HMS Amethyst.