HMS Surprize (1774)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain
|
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| Name: | HMS Surprise |
| Ordered: | January 1771 |
| Builder: | Woolwich Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 5 September 1771 |
| Launched: | 13 April 1774 |
| Completed: | 15 April 1775 |
| Commissioned: | February 1775 |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking up, 24 April 1783 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 593 89⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 33 ft 6 in (10.2 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 11 ft 0 in (3.4 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 200 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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HMS Surprise (or Surprize) was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, which served throughout the American Revolutionary War and was broken up in 1783.
Surprise was one of a batch of five ships ordered as part of a programme sparked by the diplomatic crisis of 1770 between Britain and Spain over the possession of the Falkland Islands. Based on a design by Sir John Williams, her keel was laid down on 5 September 1771 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was launched on 13 April 1774, commissioned in February 1775 under the command of Captain Robert Linzee, and completed on 15 April 1775.
Under Linzee's command Surprise sailed for Newfoundland on 23 May 1775. On 20 March 1776 Surprise and the sloop Martin sailed from Plymouth, carrying supplies and troops for the relief of Quebec, then besieged by American forces. They rendezvoused with Isis, which had sailed from Portland on 11 March, off the L'Isle-aux-Coudres in the Saint Lawrence River on 3 May, and Surprise sailed ahead to give the British garrison notice of their arrival. The three ships landed their troops on the 6th, and the Americans began to withdraw. Surprise and Martin sailed upriver to "annoy" the retreating troops, captured an American schooner armed with four 6-pounder and six 3-pounder guns, and recovered the Royal Navy brig Gaspée, which the Americans had captured the previous year.
Surprise remained in North America, based at Newfoundland, and captured the American schooner Favourite on 3 May 1777, and the brig Live Oak on 4 September 1777.
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