HMS Leda (1800)

Leda
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Leda
Ordered27 April 1796
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid down1 May 1799
Launched18 November 1800
Completed19 December 1800
CommissionedNovember 1800
Honours &
awards
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"
FateWrecked 31 January 1808 off West Angle, Milford Haven, Wales, UK
General characteristics
Class & typeLeda-class frigate
Tons burthen10711194 (bm)
Length
  • Overall: 150 ft 2 in (45.77 m)
  • Keel: 125 ft 4 in (38.20 m)
Beam40 ft 1 in (12.22 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement284 (later 300);
Armament
  • Upper deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Leda, launched in 1800, was the lead ship of a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. Leda's design was based on the French Hébé, which the British had captured in 1782. (Hébé herself was the name vessel for the French Hébé-class frigates. Hébé, therefore, has the rare distinction of being the model for both a French and a British frigate class.) Leda was wrecked at the mouth of Milford Haven in 1808, Captain Honeyman was exonerated of all blame, as it was a pilot error.