HMS Jason was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

, but her career came to an end after just four years in service when she struck an uncharted rock off Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

 and sank on 13 October 1798. She had already had an eventful career, and was involved in several engagements with French vessels.

Construction

Jason was ordered on 1 April 1793 and was laid down that month at the yards of John Dudman, at Deptford Wharf. She was launched on 3 April 1794 and had been completed at Deptford Dockyard by 25 July 1794. She cost £16,632 to build; this rising to a total of £22,567 when the cost of fitting her for service was included. Jason was commissioned in May 1794 under her first commander, Captain James Douglas.

Career

Jason initially served in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

, at first under Douglas, and then by 1795 under Captain Charles Stirling

Charles Stirling

Sir Charles Stirling was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy.-Early life and career:Charles Stirling was born in London on 28 April 1760 and baptised at St. Albans on 15 May. The son of Admiral Sir Walter Stirling, he was born into a family with a long and proud naval tradition. Stirling joined the...

. Stirling remained the Jasons commander for the rest of her career. In a highly active career against French shipping he took at least six French vessels, including two that later became part of the Royal Navy.

The Jason was present at the Quiberon expedition

Invasion of France (1795)

The invasion of France in 1795 or the Battle of Quiberon was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively repulsed on 21 July...

 in October 1795 as part of John Borlase Warren's squadron, and went on to be highly active against French privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

s and raiders. In December 1796 she was part of the British squadron that frustrated the French Expédition d'Irlande

Expédition d'Irlande

The Expédition d'Irlande was an unsuccessful attempt by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republican group, in their planned rebellion against British rule...

, capturing the disarmed frigate Suffren. Further service in the Channel followed; Jason captured the 14-gun privateer Marie off Belle Isle

Belle Île

Belle-Île or Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the département of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is 14 km from the Quiberon peninsula.Administratively, the island forms a canton: the canton of Belle-Île...

 on 21 November 1797, the 24-gun privateer Coureur on 23 February 1798, and in company with captured the 12-gun privateer Bonne Citoyenne on 20 March 1798. Further successes that year included the 6-gun Arrogante off Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

19 April 1798, and in company with , the 38-gun frigate Seine in the Breton Passage on 30 June 1798. The Arrogante was taken into service with the Royal Navy as , later being renamed HMS Insolent. The Seine too became a British ship, as , serving until being wrecked in 1803.

Loss

HMS Jason struck an uncharted rock on 13 October 1798 while sailing off Brest and was wrecked. She was one of a handful of frigates to be lost on the dangerous Brest blockade, with three of her class being wrecked in the space of three years. had been lost the year before, while was lost the following year.