HMS Leander (1780)
Leander (right) at the action of 18 August 1798 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Leander |
| Namesake | Hero and Leander |
| Ordered | 21 June & 25 July 1776 |
| Builder | Chatham Dockyard, M/Shipwright Israel Pownoll to April 1779; completed by Nicholas Phillips |
| Laid down | 1 March 1777 |
| Launched | 1 July 1780 |
| Honours and awards | Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Nile" |
| Fate | Captured 18 August 1798 by the French Navy |
| France | |
| Name | Leander |
| Acquired | By capture 18 August 1798 |
| Captured | 3 March 1799 by the Russian Navy |
| Fate | Returned to the Royal Navy |
| Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Leander |
| Acquired | Returned by Russian Navy |
| Renamed | Hygeia, in 1813 |
| Reclassified | Converted to hospital ship 1813 |
| Fate | Sold 1817 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | 50-gun fourth-rate |
| Tons burthen | 1,052 46⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 40 ft 8 in (12.4 m) |
| Draught | 17 ft 5 in (5.3 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament | |
HMS Leander was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched at Chatham Dockyard on 1 July 1780, she served in West Africa, the West Indies and Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the French Revolutionary Wars, Leander participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her in the action of 18 August 1798. Russo-Ottoman forces recaptured her at the siege of Corfu and returned her to the British in 1799. On 23 February 1805, Leander captured the French frigate Ville de Milan and recaptured her prize, HMS Cleopatra. On 25 April 1806, a warning shot fired by Leander unintentionally killed an American seaman. The resulting Leander affair contributed to the worsening of Anglo-American relations. In 1813, the Admiralty converted Leander to a hospital ship under the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold in 1817.