HMS Tweed (1759)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Tweed.

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Tweed
Ordered	26 November 1757
Builder	Hugh Blaydes, Hull
Laid down	19 January 1758
Launched	28 April 1759
Commissioned	21 June 1759
Fate	Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 29 November 1776
General characteristics
Class and type	32-gun fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	65549⁄94 (bm) (as designed); 66086⁄94 (bm) (as completed)
Length	128 ft 4+1⁄2 in (39.1 m)
Beam	33 ft 11+1⁄2 in (10.4 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 4 in (3.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	210
Armament	Upper Deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Tweed was a 32-gun sailing frigate of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. She was designed in 1757 by Sir Thomas Slade, based on the lines of the smaller sixth rate HMS Tartar, but with a 10-foot midsection inserted. She was built in Blaydes Yard in Kingston-Upon-Hull.

Tweed was commissioned in April 1759 under Captain William Paston. On 15 March 1761 Tweed captured the French privateer Hardi, off Cape Finisterre. Hardi, of Bayonne, was armed with 10 guns and had a crew of 125 men. She had been out 18 days but had not captured anything. Tweed took Hardi into Lisbon.

In 1763 command passed to Captain Charles Douglas until Tweed paid off into reserve in April 1765. In November 1766 she was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Collingwood. In 1770 command passed to Captain George Collier until the ship paid off into reserve again in 1771.

The design was not considered to be very successful and no further ships of this class were built, while the Tweed herself was sold in 1776 following a survey in 1771 that indicated that she would require a Middling Repair taking £3,500 and nine months to complete.

References

• Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9.
• David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. ISBN 0-85177-617-5.
• Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.