HMS Electra (1808)

History
France
NameEspiègle
Ordered6 June 1803
BuilderEnterprise Ethéart, Saint-Malo
Laid downJuly 1803
Launched12 July 1804
Captured16 August 1808
United Kingdom
NameHMS Electra
NamesakeElectra
Acquiredby capture, 16 August 1808
CommissionedFebruary 1812
Decommissioned1815
FateSold, 17 June 1816
General characteristics
Class & typeCurieux-class brig
Displacement290 tons
Tons burthen314 7994 (bm)
Length
  • 93 ft 3 in (28.42 m) (overall);
  • 74 ft 6+58 in (22.723 m) (keel)
Beam28 ft 2+18 in (8.588 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Complement94 (French service)
Armament14 × 24-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder guns (British service)

HMS Electra was a 16-gun brig-sloop. She was built by the Enterprise Ethéart, Saint-Malo, as the French Curieux-class brig Espiègle and launched in 1804. She was armed in 1807 at Saint Servan. The British frigate Sybille captured her on 16 August 1808. There was already an Espiegle in the Royal Navy so the Navy took the vessel they had just captured into service as HMS Electra, her predecessor Electra having been wrecked in March. Electra captured one American privateer before she was sold in 1816.