HMS Diana (1794)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Diana
Ordered:	28 March 1793
Builder:	Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe
Laid down:	March 1793
Launched:	3 March 1794
Completed:	6 June 1794
Out of service:	Sold to the Dutch Navy on 7 March 1815
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"[1]
Netherlands
Name:	Diana
Acquired:	Bought from the British on 7 March 1815
Fate:	Destroyed in dry-dock accident on 16 January 1839
General characteristics
Type:	38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen:	999  ^3⁄94 bm
Length:	146 ft 3 in (44.6 m) (overall) 121 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam:	39 ft 3 ^1⁄2 in (12.0 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	270 (later 315)
Armament:	Upper deck: 28 x 18-pounder guns QD: 2 x 9-pounder guns + 12 x 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 x 9-pounder guns + 2 x 32-pounder carronades

HMS Diana was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1794.

Because Diana served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorized in 1850 to all surviving claimants.^{[Note 1]}

Diana participated in an attack on a French frigate squadron anchored at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue at the Action of 15 November 1810, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Elisa. (Boats from Diana went in and set fire to the beached Eliza despite heavy fire from shore batteries and three nearby armed brigs; the British suffered no casualties.^[3])

On 7 March 1815 Diana was sold to the Dutch navy for £36,796. On 27 August 1816 she was one of six Dutch frigates that participated in the bombardment of Algiers.

Fate

Diana was destroyed in a fire on 16 January 1839 while in dry-dock at Willemsoord, Den Helder.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.^[2]

Sources

1. The London Gazette: no. 21077. pp. 791–792. 15 March 1850.
2. The London Gazette: no. 17915. p. 633. 3 April 1823.
3. The London Gazette: no. 16438. p. 2061. 25 December 1810.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1794–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
• HMS Diana at Modelships.de - ship model with a short description.
• HMS Diana at Jotika Ltd. - another model with additional info.