HMS Pomona (1778)

Dismasting of Pomona and Ulysses in the Great Hurricane 6 October 1780
History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Pomona
Ordered:	7 March 1777
Builder:	Thomas Raymond, Chapel, Southampton
Laid down:	8 May 1777
Launched:	22 September 1778
Completed:	17 December 1778 (at Portsmouth Dockyard)
Commissioned:	September 1778
Renamed:	Amphitrite in 1795[1]
Fate:	Taken to pieces at Portsmouth August 1811
General characteristics
Class and type:	28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	593  ^89⁄94 (bm)
Length:	120 ft 8 in (36.78 m) (overall) 99 ft 6 in (30.33 m) (keel)
Beam:	33 ft 6 in (10.2 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	200 officers and men
Armament:	Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns QD: 4 x 6-pounder guns + 4 x 18-pounder carronades Fc: 2 x 18-pounder carronades Also: 12 x swivel guns

HMS Pomona was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Pomona was first commissioned in September 1778 under the command of Captain William Waldegrave.

On 17 October 1779, Pomona, together with Lowestoffe, Charon, and Porcupine participated in the successful British attack on the Fort of San Fernandino de Omoa.^[2] As a result of the battle the British ships captured two Spanish prizes with a cargo of bullion worth in excess of $3,000,000.^[3] Pomona and Lowestoffe also shared in the prize money for the St. Domingo and her cargo, which included 124 serons (crates) of indigo.^[4]

Then on 15 June 1780, Pomona, Phoenix and Lowestoffe captured the brig Delaware, William Collins, Master. She was of 120 tons, armed with guns and had a crew of 53 men. She was sailing from Philadelphia to Port au Prince, with a cargo of flour and fish.^[5] More importantly, they also captured the French navy cutter Sans Pareil, of 16 guns and 100 men, as she was sailing from Martinique to Cap-Français. She was the former British privateer Non Such.^[6]

In 1795 Pomona was renamed Amphitrite^[1] after the previous Amphitrite was wrecked after striking an uncharted submerged rock whilst entering Leghorn harbour on 30 January 1794.

Fate

She was taken to pieces at Portsmouth August 1811.^[7]

Citations

1. J. J. Colledge; Ben Warlow (28 February 2010). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Casemate Publishers. p. 312. ISBN 978-1-935149-07-1. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
2. The London Gazette: no. 12040. pp. 1–6. 14 December 1779.
3. Goodwin. Nelson's Ships. p. 60.
4. The London Gazette: no. 12314. p. 3. 16 July 1782.
5. The London Gazette: no. 12199. pp. 2–4. 16 June 1781.
6. Dermeiliac (1996), p.89, #591.
7. Winfield (2007)

References

• Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
• Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9.
• Goodwin, Peter (2002). Nelson's Ships: A History of the Vessels in which he Served: 1771–1805. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-1007-6.
• 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 978-1-84415-700-6.