HMS Ardent (1782)

HMS Ardent was a Royal Navy 64-gun third rate. This ship of the line was launched on 21 December 1782 at Bursledon, Hampshire.[1] She disappeared in 1794, believed lost to a fire and explosion.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Ardent.

Plan of Ardent
History
Great Britain
Name: HMS Ardent
Ordered: 9 September 1779
Builder: Staves & Parsons, Bursledon
Laid down: October 1780
Launched: 21 December 1782
Fate: Blown up, 1794
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: Crown-class ship of the line
Type: Third rate
Tons burthen: 1387 (bm)
Length: 160 ft 5 in (48.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 44 ft 10 in (13.7 m)
Depth of hold: 19 ft 3 1⁄2 in (5.9 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns

Career

In 1784 she was under the command of Captain Harry Harmood, serving as a guard ship at Portsmouth.

In 1793 she was under the command of Captain Robert Manners Sutton, sailing with Vice-Admiral Lord Hood at Toulon in August. She was part of a force detached under Robert Linzee to take part in the attack on Corsica in September.

Fate

In April 1794 Ardent was stationed off the harbour of Villa Franca, to watch two French frigates.[2] It is presumed that she caught fire and blew up. Berwick encountered some wreckage while cruising in the Gulf of Genoa in the summer that suggested fire and an explosion.[3] A part of Ardent's quarter deck with some gunlocks deeply embedded in it was found floating in the area, as was splinter netting driven into planking.[3] No trace was ever found of her crew of 500.[2]

Plan showing the quarterdeck and forecastle of Ardent

Citations
  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 181.
  2. Gossett (1986), p. 4.
  3. Hepper (1994), p. 76.
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References
  • Gossett, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
  • Hepper, David J. (1994) British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. (Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot). ISBN 0-948864-30-3
  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
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