Tartar (1780 ship)

History
Great Britain
Builder	France
Launched	1778
Acquired	1780 by purchase of a prize
Fate	Probably lost in 1799; last listed 1801
General characteristics
Tons burthen	460, or 480, 483, or 494, or 49419⁄94 or 500, or 600 (bm)
Length	Overall:116 ft 10+1⁄4 in (35.6 m) ; Keel:93 ft 0+1⁄4 in (28.4 m);
Beam	31 ft 7+1⁄2 in (9.6 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 8 in (4.2 m)
Complement	20
Armament	1781:26 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × 9-pounder carronades; 1794:14 × 6-pounder guns;
Notes	Two decks

Tartar was built in France in 1778, almost surely under another name. She was taken in prize and appears under British ownership in 1780. After a short career as a privateer, she made a voyage between 1781 and 1783 as an extra East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler in the northern whale fishery (Greenland and Davis Strait). After whaling she traded with the Baltic and then served as a London-based transport. She was probably lost in 1799, and was last listed in 1801. If Tartar is the vessel lost in 1799, in 1796 French warships captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her.