HMS Lark (1762)
{{short description|Frigate of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Lark}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Lark (1762).jpg |Ship image size= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Great Britain |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Lark |Ship ordered=24 March 1761 |Ship builder=Elias Bird, Rotherhithe |Ship laid down=5 May 1761 |Ship launched=10 May 1762 |Ship completed=9 July 1762 at Deptford Dockyard |Ship commissioned=May 1762 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Burnt to avoid capture at Newport, Rhode Island, 5 August 1778 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Richmond|frigate|0}} fifth-rate frigate |Ship tons burthen=680 {{small|{{fraction|61|94}}}} bm |Ship length=*{{convert|127|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}} (gundeck)
|Ship beam={{convert|34|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship hold depth={{convert|12|ft|0+1/2|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship complement=210 officers and men |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*Upperdeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} |
File:LarkAndCerberusWreckMap.jpg
HMS Lark was a 32-gun Richmond-class frigate fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1762{{cite web |url= http://auvfest08.icw-ietm-solutions.com/inwater_ops_site_description.shtml |title= Archaeological Sites Under Investigation at AUVfest 2008 |access-date= 2 April 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20080531073908/http://auvfest08.icw-ietm-solutions.com/inwater_ops_site_description.shtml |archive-date= 31 May 2008 }} and destroyed in Narragansett Bay in 1778, during the American Revolutionary War.{{cite book |title= Shipwrecks in the Americas|last= Marx |first= Robert F. |author-link= Robert F. Marx|year= 1987 |publisher= Dover Publications|isbn= 0-486-25514-X |pages= 152}}
Active service
On 23 September 1762 Lark and her sister ship {{HMS|Venus|1758|6}} were off Rame Head in Cornwall when they encountered an unidentified vessel which raised sail and fled. After a twelve-hour chase the vessel was overtaken and struck its colours in surrender to Venus. A boarding party from Venus determined the captured vessel to be a Galgo, a 14-gun Spanish privateer with a crew of 136 men.{{London Gazette|page=5|issue=10250|date=5 October 1762}}
On 11 January 1778, under command of Captain Richard Smith, she chased ashore a vessel, probably schooner Sally, near the Providence River and burned it.{{cite web |url=http://ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/E/E3/ndar_v11p01.pdf |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 |publisher=U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio |accessdate=14 September 2023}}
Between 29 May and 18 July, the British captured a number of vessels: the sloops Sally and Fancy, snow Baron D'Ozell, Olive Branch, sloop Betsey, and schooner Sally. Lark shared the prize money with {{HMS|Kingfisher|1770|2}}, {{HMS|Hope|1764|2}}, {{HMS|Sphinx|1775|2}}, and the Pigot galley.{{London Gazette|issue=12460|page=4|date=22 July 1783}}
French Admiral d'Estaing's squadron arrived in Narragansett Bay on 29 July 1778 to support the American army under General George Washington during the battle of Rhode Island. On 30 July, four French ships of the line entered Narrangansett Bay and positioned themselves north of Conanicut Island to support the American and French forces in the battle of Rhode Island.{{London Gazette|issue=11921|page=1|date=24 October 1778}} The arrival of the French vessels trapped several British vessels, Lark among them. On 5 August 1778, as Lark lay off Newport, Captain Richard Smith had her set on fire and her cables cut. She then drifted on to shore.Hepper (1994), p. 52. The Royal Navy ended up having to destroy ten of their own vessels in all.
The remains of Lark are now part of a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the "Wreck Sites of HMS Cerberus and HMS Lark."
Citations
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Gardiner|first=Robert|title=The First Frigates|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|year=1992|isbn=0851776019}}
- {{cite book|last=Hepper|first=David J.|year=1994|title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859|publisher=Jean Boudriot|location=Rotherfield|isbn=0-948864-30-3}}
- {{cite book|last=Lyon|first=David|title=The Sailing Navy List|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|year=1993|isbn=0851776175}}
- {{cite book | last = Winfield| first = Rif|title = British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714{{ndash}}1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates | publisher = Seaforth| location=Barnsley, United Kingdom|year = 2007|isbn=9781844157006}}
{{coord|41.5201|-71.3303|type:event_globe:earth_region:US-RI|display=title}}
{{Richmond class frigate}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lark (1762)}}
Category:Ships built on the River Thames
Category:Archaeology of shipwrecks
Category:Shipwrecks of the Rhode Island coast
Category:Maritime incidents in 1778
Category:Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
Category:Richmond-class frigates
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