HMS Ardent (1764)

HMS "Ardent" was a 64-gun, Third Rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by contract by Hugh Blaydes at Hull according to the plans of Sir Thomas Slade, and launched on 13 August 1764 as the first ship of the sclass|Ardent|ship of the line|0. She had a somewhat turbulent career, being captured by the French in 1779, and then re-captured by Britain in 1782.

Career

The "Ardent" was first commissioned in October 1774 under Captain Sir George Douglas. In 1778, under the command of Captain George Keppel, she was with Admiral Lord Howe's squadron off New York, defending the town from the larger French fleet under the command of Admiral d'Estaing. The two forces engaged in an action off Rhode Island on 11 August, though both fleets were scattered by a storm over the following two days.Ships of the Old Navy, "Ardent".] She returned home to Portsmouth and was paid off in January 1779.

June 1779 saw "Ardent" recommissioned under the command of Captain Phillip Boteler, sailing from Plymouth in August to join Sir Charles Hardy in the Channel. According to the ship's logs, as many as 4/5 of the crew were landmen, and neither Boteler or the captain of the "Marlborough", in whose company "Ardent" was sailing, were aware that a French fleet had put to sea. "Ardent" encountered a fleet two days after sailing, and after receiving the correct replies to the private signal, ran down to meet them. The fleet however was a French fleet, somehow in possession of the Royal Navy signal code book, thus permitting the correct response to "Ardent's" signals. The French frigate "Junon" fired two broadsides before raising her colours. Three further frigates, and 2 ships of the line joined the action shortly after, and with "Ardent's" inexperienced crew, she was unable to offer more than a sporadic reply of fire, before being forced to strike her colours to the vastly superior enemy force.

Little is known of "Ardent's" career in the French Navy; however she was re-captured by the British on 14 April 1782 following the Battle of the Saintes, and recommissioned that month under Captain Richard Lucas. On 28 August 1783 the ship was re-named "Tiger". She was sold out of the service in June 1784.

Notes

References

*Michael Phillips. [http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0196 "Ardent" (64) (1764)] . Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
*Lavery, Brian (2003) "The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850." Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
*Winfield, Rif (2007) "British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1714 - 1792." Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.