HMS Cormorant (1781)
Ship plan of Cormorant drawn in 1781 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts | |
| Name | Rattlesnake |
| Namesake | Rattlesnake |
| Builder | John Peck, Plymouth, Massachusetts (probably) |
| Launched | 1780 |
| Captured | 17 June 1781 |
| Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Cormorant |
| Namesake | Cormorant |
| Acquired | By capture |
| Renamed | Rattlesnake (1783) |
| Fate | Sold 10 October 1786 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 198+70⁄94 or 200 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 22 ft 4 in (6.8 m) |
| Depth of hold | 8 ft 10+1⁄2 in (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
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HMS Cormorant was an 18-gun ship sloop of the Royal Navy. She was originally the 20-gun Massachusetts privateer Rattlesnake, which had probably been launched in 1780 at Plymouth, Massachusetts and commissioned in 1781. HMS Assurance captured Rattlesnake on 17 June 1781 shortly after she set out on her first cruise. British naval authorities in New York City subsequently purchased her and commissioned the ship into the Royal Navy as HMS Rattlesnake, and in November 1781 she carried to England the first news of Britain's defeat at the siege of Yorktown. There, she was renamed Cormorant, though the Royal Navy renamed her Rattlesnake in 1783. She was paid off and sold in 1786.