HMS Harpy was an 18-gun sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched at Liverpool on 8 May 1777, having been purchased on the stocks by the Navy. She was built by John Fisher of Liverpool.
General Characteristics
- Tons burthen: 367²²⁄₉₄ (or 368, or 400) bm
- Length: Overall 120 ft 9 in (36.8 m); Keel 85 ft 0 in (25.9 m)
- Beam: 28 ft 6 in (8.7 m)
- Depth of hold: 11 ft 0 in (3.4 m)
- Armament: 18 × 6-pounder guns (Royal Navy service)
- Complement: 125 (as sloop); 50 (as fireship)
Royal Navy Career (1777–1783)
The Navy commissioned Harpy in April 1777 under Commander Roger Wills for Home waters. In 1779 she operated in the Belfast area. On 30 April 1779, she and HMS Boston captured the American privateer Revenge.
Harpy was registered as a fireship on 25 August 1779 and underwent temporary fitting for that role at Portsmouth between August and September 1779. Commander Phillip Walsh recommissioned her in August 1779 for the Western Squadron. In May 1780 she was at Portsmouth undergoing refitting and coppering. She shared with some 30 vessels in the prize money for the capture on 4 July 1780 of the French privateer Comte d'Estaing.
In February 1781, Commander William Cayley assumed command. In spring 1781, Harpy was part of Admiral George Darby's fleet that sailed to relieve Gibraltar for a second time. The fleet captured the Duc de Chartres, the Spanish frigate Santa Leucadia, and the French brig Trois Amis; Harpy shared in the prize money along with the entire fleet of 42 vessels.
Harpy shared with 11 other ships the prize money for Noord Beck (captured 23 June 1781) and the recapture of Neptune (27 June 1781), and with a number of vessels for the capture of Voyageur (12 August 1781).
On 11 October 1781, while at anchor at Plymouth alongside the fireships Lightning and Firebrand, the Firebrand caught fire and blew up. All her crew were saved. Harpy and Lightning cut their cables and escaped the flames.
In May 1782, Commander Sir James Barclay assumed command. Harpy was paid off in March 1783. The Navy sold her at Woolwich on 21 March 1783 for £2,395, which included her masts, yards, rigging, and some stores.
Whaler (1783–1791)
After her sale, Harpy was employed in the northern whale fishery. In August 1785, she was reported returning from Greenland with one whale. In 1786, under Master J. Marshall, she sailed for Davis Strait, returning with five fish (whales). She made additional whaling voyages to Greenland and Davis Strait in 1787 and 1788.
In 1788, Harpy underwent a large repair. Under Captain John Inskip and owners Hattersley & Co., she sailed for the South Seas (southern whale fishery) on 23 October 1788. She reached the Cape of Good Hope by 11 March 1789 and returned on 14 July 1790. During this voyage, her ownership changed from Hattersley to Stephens.
Sierra Leone Company Service (1792–1794)
On 5 January 1792, Harpy (Master Wilson) sailed from the Downs for Sierra Leone, having been purchased by the Sierra Leone Company. She had undergone a good repair in 1791. In May 1792, she arrived in Sierra Leone as part of a fleet of 15 vessels from Halifax, Nova Scotia, bringing free Black settlers from Canada to establish the colony of Freetown. Harpy returned to England in December 1792.
Capture and French Service (1794–1796)
In September 1794, a French naval squadron comprising the razee Experiment, Vigilance, Félicité, Mutine, and Pervie was cruising the West African coast, destroying British factories and shipping. On 9 October 1794, Harpy (Master D. Telford) arrived at Cape Sierra Leone with passengers and some £10,000 in goods. Finding the Company's settlement destroyed, Telford attempted to flee, but the wind failed. The French overtook and captured Harpy, plundering the vessel and her passengers. The French departed on 13 October, taking Harpy with them.
The French Navy took Harpy into service as Harcourt. In 1795, she was renamed Harpie. She was struck from the French Navy lists in 1796.
