HMS Naiad (1797)

HMS "Naiad" was a Royal Navy frigate that served in the Napoleonic Wars.

She was built by Hall and Co. at Limehouse on the Thames, launched in 1797 and commissioned in 1798.

On 15 October 1799 "Naiad" sighted two Spanish frigates, the "Santa Brigada" and "Thetis", which were returning from Mexico to Spain with gold worth £600,000. She gave chase with two other British frigates, HMS "Ethalian" and HMS "Almene". "Ethalian" caught and captured the "Thetis", whilst "Naiad" and "Almene" captured the "Santa Brigada".

In 1805 "Naiad" was part of the squadron of frigates that watched the French and Spanish fleets in Cadiz prior to the Battle of Trafalgar. Too small to take part in the battle itself, she lay to windward of the action. After the battle she towed HMS "Belleisle" to Gibraltar.

She served in many other actions in the Napoleonic Wars, and was finally paid off in 1826.

"Naiad" was sent to serve as a depot ship, first to Valparaiso, Chile in 1846 and then to Callao, Peru from 1851 and 1898. Broken up in 1898 "Naiad" was the longest survivor of any of the British ships at Trafalgar apart from HMS "Victory".

External links

* http://www.treeforall.org.uk/trafalgar/TrafalgarWoods/Otherwoods/Naiad/