HMS Firebrand

Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Firebrand.

• HMS Firebrand (1694) was an 8-gun fireship launched in 1694 and wrecked in 1707.
• HMS Firebrand (1739) was an 8-gun fireship, previously the civilian vessel Charming Jenny. She was purchased in 1739 and sold in 1743.
• HMS Firebrand was a 10-gun fireship, previously a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1731 as HMS Dolphin. She was converted to a fireship in 1746 and renamed HMS Firebrand in 1755. She was reconverted to a sixth rate in 1757 and renamed HMS Penguin. She was captured by the French in 1760.
• HMS Firebrand was a fireship, previously a 16-gun sloop purchased in 1777 as HMS Porpoise. She was converted to a fireship, renamed HMS Firebrand in 1778 and was burnt in 1781.
• HMS Firebrand (1794) was a fireship purchased in 1794 and broken up in 1800.
• HMS Firebrand (1804a), was the ex-French prize Waller, captured in Indian waters. Chartered to carry a cargo from Calcutta to London under the command Lt. Alexander Davidson R.N., she left Calcutta 9 January 1804,^[1] and arrived at Portsmouth on 27 April. The navy purchased her in August and commissioned her under the command of Lieutenant William MacLean in September.^[2] She was in The Downs when she grounded near Dover on 12 October. She took on water and her crew had to take to her boats. There was no loss of life though Lieutenant MacLean spent some time in the water, something that may have contributed to his death some three weeks later.^[3]
• HMS Firebrand (1804b) was the mercantile Lord Lennox, a French prize taken in 1800 and renamed,^[4] that the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 for use as a fireship and sold in 1807.^[5]
• HMS Firebrand (1814) was an American gunboat captured at the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814 and in service until at least 4 June 1815.^[6]
• HMS Firebrand (1831) was a wooden paddle vessel launched in 1831. She was rebuilt in 1834 and renamed HMS Black Eagle in 1843. She was broken up in 1876.
• HMS Firebrand (1842) was a wooden paddle frigate, ordered as HMS Belzebub, but renamed before being launched in 1842. She was sold in 1864.
• HMS Firebrand (1877) was a composite screw gunboat launched in 1877. She was sold out of the service in 1905 and renamed Hoi Tin.
• HMS Firebrand (1906) was a tender, previously the War Department vessel Lord Heathfield. She was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1906 and was sold in 1920.
• HMS Firebrand was a sloop launched in 1894 as HMS Torch. She was given to the New Zealand government in 1917 as a training ship, and was renamed Firebrand. She was sold in 1920.

See also

• The Canadian Armed Forces Maritime Command also operates a vessel named CFAV Firebrand.

References

Citations

1. Hackman (2001), p.245.
2. Winfield (2008), p.380.
3. Hepper (1994), pp.106-7.
4. Lloyd's Register (1801), sup. seq. no. L62.
5. Winfield (2008), p.380.
6. Paullin and Paxson (1914), p.436.

Bibliography

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• O'Byrne, William R. (1849) A Naval Biographical Dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. (London: J. Murray), vol. 1.
• Paullin, Charles Oscar and Frederic Logan Paxson (1914) Guide to the materials in London archives for the history of the United States since 1783. (Carnegie Institution of Washington).
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.