Class overview | |
---|---|
Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | Bonetta class |
Succeeded by | Alderney class |
Built | 1755-1756 |
In commission | 1756-1780 |
Completed | 2 |
Lost | 1 |
General characteristics (common design) | |
Type | Sloop-of-war |
Tons burthen | 223 62⁄94 bm |
Length |
|
Beam | 24 ft 3 in (7.4 m) |
Depth of hold | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
Sail plan | Snow rig |
Complement | 100 |
Armament |
|
The Hunter class was a class of two sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1755 and 1756. Both were built by contract with commercial builders to a common design prepared by Thomas Slade, the Surveyor of the Navy.
Both were ordered on 5 August 1755, and contracts with the builders were agreed on 8 August. They were two-masted (snow-rigged) vessels, although the Hunter was built with a 'pink' or very narrow stern (and a keel 3 feet longer than the original design), while her sister Viper had a traditional 'square' stern.
Hunter was captured by two American privateers off Boston on 23 November 1775, but was retaken by HMS Greyhound the following day.
Name | Ordered | Builder | Launched | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hunter | 5 August 1755 | Thomas Stanton and William Wells, Rotherhithe |
28 February 1756 | Sold by auction at New York City on 27 December 1780. |
Viper | 5 August 1755 | Thomas West, Deptford |
31 March 1756 | Wrecked 15 December 1779 in the Thames Estuary. |