HMS Siren (1773)

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Siren
Ordered:	25 December 1770
Builder:	John Henniker & Co, Chatham
Laid down:	April 1771
Launched:	2 November 1773
Completed:	5 October 1775 at Chatham Dockyard
Commissioned:	August 1775
Fate:	Grounded and abandoned under fire, 6 November 1777
General characteristics
Class & type:	28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	603 ^40⁄94 bm
Length:	120 ft 10 in (36.83 m) (overall) 99 ft 7.5 in (30.366 m) (keel)
Beam:	33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold:	10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	200 officers and men
Armament:	28 guns comprising Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns Quarter deck: 4 x 6-pounder guns Forecastle: nil 12 × swivel guns

HMS Siren (or Syren^{[Note 1]}) was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Siren was first commissioned in August 1775 under the command of Captain Tobias Furneaux, her only commanding officer.

Service

She took part in the Battle of the Rice Boats on 2-3 March 1776 on the border between the Province of Georgia and the Province of South Carolina and in the Battle of Sullivan's Island of 28 June 1776 upon Charleston, South Carolina.

Fate

Siren, escorting a convoy in poor visibility, ran aground at about 6:00 am on 6 November 1777 near Point Judith, along with two other ships. Efforts were made to bring her off, but American forces ashore brought up field artillery and prevented salvage operations. Siren was abandoned with the loss of 2 killed and 5 wounded.^{[1] [2][Note 2]}

Notes

1. Spelling during the period was not fixed.
2. Some sources have 10 November,^[3] but the court martial records and other official documents show 6 November.^[2]

References

Notes

1. David J. Hepper (1 March 1994). British warship losses in the age of sail, 1650-1859. Jean Boudriot. ISBN 978-0-948864-30-8. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
2. Winfield (2007)
3. Robert F. Marx (1 December 1987). Shipwrecks in the Americas. Courier Dover Publications. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-486-25514-9. Retrieved 16 October 2011.

Bibliography

• 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.