HMS Merlin (1796)
HMS Merlin on a stamp of 1949, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of St. George's Caye | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Merlin |
| Ordered | 24 January 1795 |
| Builder | John Dudman, Deptford |
| Laid down | June 1795 |
| Launched | 1 June 1796 |
| Fate | Broken up January 1803 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Merlin-class |
| Type | sloop |
| Tons burthen | 37065⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 28 ft 2+1⁄2 in (8.6 m) |
| Draught |
|
| Depth of hold | 13 ft 10 in (4.2 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Complement | 121 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Merlin was one of the two original Merlin-class sloops that served the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. She was launched in 1796 and was broken up in 1803. Her greatest accomplishment was her role as the leading vessel in a motley flotilla of local vessels that defeated a Spanish attack on the British colonists in British Honduras (now Belize) at the Battle of St. George's Caye. She later captured a number of small merchant vessels in the West Indies before returning to Britain, where she was broken up.