HMS Hussar (1784)

Capture of La Prevoyante and La Raison by Thetis and Hussar, by Thomas Whitcombe
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Hussar
Ordered	26 March 1782
Builder	Fabian, Clayton & Willson, Sandgate
Laid down	June 1782
Launched	1 September 1784
Completed	7 April 1785
Commissioned	May 1790
Fate	Wrecked off Brittany 27 December 1796
General characteristics
Class and type	28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	59679⁄94 (bm)
Length	120 ft 6 in (36.7 m) (overall) 99 ft 0 in (30.2 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 8 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold	11 ft 0 in (3.4 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	200 officers and men
Armament	Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 18-pounder carronades 12 × swivel guns

HMS Hussar was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Hussar was first commissioned in May 1790 under the command of Captain Eliab Harvey.

From 1792-1794, Captain Sir Rupert George used the Hussar as his flagship when he was the commodore of the North America Station.^[1]

On 2 May 1795 Rear Admiral George Murray sent Captain Alexander Cochrane in Thetis, together with Hussar, to intercept three French supply ships reported at Hampton Roads.^[2] At daybreak on 17 May the British came upon five ships 20 leagues (97 km) west by south from Cape Henry. The French made a line of battle to receive the British frigates. An action commenced, with three of the French vessels eventually striking their colours. Thetis took possession of the largest, which turned out to be Prévoyante, pierced for 36 guns but only mounting 24. Hussar captured a second, Raison, pierced for 24 guns but only mounting 18. One of the vessels that had struck nonetheless sailed off. Two of the five had broken off the fight and sailed off earlier. (The three that escaped were Normand, Trajan, and Hernoux.) An hour after she had struck, Prévoyante's main and foremasts fell over the side. In the battle, Thetis had lost eight men killed and 9 wounded; Hussar had only two men wounded.^[2]

Four of the French ships had escaped from Guadeloupe on 25 April. They had sailed to American ports to gather provisions and naval stores to bring back to France.

Cochrane had intended to leave the prizes in charge of the cutter Prince Edward after repairing the damage to his vessel during the night. However, a breeze picked up and by morning the escaping French vessels were out of sight. The British sailed with their prizes to Halifax.^[2] The British took Prévoyante into the Royal Navy as HMS Prevoyante.

On 20 July, Hussar was in company with Thetis and HMS Esperance when they intercepted the American vessel Cincinnatus, of Wilmington, sailing from Ireland to Wilmington. They pressed many men on board, narrowly exempting the Irish revolutionary Wolfe Tone, who was going to Philadelphia.^[3]

• Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9.
• David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. ISBN 0-85177-617-5.
• Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792, Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.

• Media related to HMS Hussar (ship, 1784) at Wikimedia Commons