The Mermaid class frigate were a group of six 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth rate designed in 1760 by Sir Thomas Slade

Thomas Slade

Sir Thomas Slade was an English naval architect, most famous for designing HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.-Career Outline:...

, based on the scaled-down lines of HMS Aurora (originally a French prize, L'Abenakise, which had been captured in 1757).

The contract for the prototype was agreed on 12 May 1760, for a ship to be launched within twelve months, and her name was assigned as Mermaid on 28 October 1760. The contract for the second ship was agreed on 10 March 1762, for a ship to be launched within thirteen months, and the contract for the third ship was agreed on 2 April 1762, for a ship to be launched within fourteen months; both names were assigned on 30 April 1763.

Some ten years after the design was first produced, it was re-used for a second batch of three ships which were ordered on Christmas Day, 1770 during the dispute with Spain

Falklands Crisis (1770)

The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was a diplomatic standoff between Britain and Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. These events were nearly the cause of a war between France, Spain and Britain — the countries poised to dispatch armed fleets to contest the barren...

 over the ownership of the Falkland Islands. While the design differences from the first batch were minor (the keel was a few inches longer), the second batch were normally designated the Modified Mermaid class.

Ships in class

First batch

• Mermaid
  HMS Mermaid (1761)
  HMS Mermaid was a sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was first commissioned in April 1761 under Captain George Watson.-References:* Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9....
  
  
  • Ordered: 24 April 1760
  • Built by: Hugh Blaydes, Hull.
  • Keel laid: 27 May 1760
  • Launched: 6 May 1761
  • Completed: September 1761 at the builder's yard.
  • Fate: Run ashore to avoid capture by the French 8 July 1778.
• Hussar
  HMS Hussar (1763)
  HMS Hussar was a sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built in England in 1761-63. She was a 28-gun ship of the Mermaid class, designed by Sir Thomas Slade....
  
  
  • Ordered: 30 January 1762
  • Built by: Thomas Inwood, Rotherhithe.
  • Keel laid: 1 April 1762
  • Launched: 26 August 1763
  • Completed: 7 November 1763 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked in Hell's Gate passage, New York, on 24 November 1779.
• Solebay
  HMS Solebay (1763)
  HMS Solebay was a sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was first commissioned in August 1763 under Captain William Hay.-References:* Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9....
  
  
  • Ordered 30 January 1762
  • Built by: Thomas Airey & Company, Newcastle.
  • Keel laid: 10 May 1762
  • Launched: 9 September 1763
  • Completed: December 1763 at the builder's yard, then 2 January to 15 March 1764 at Sheerness Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked off Nevis Island and burnt to avoid capture 25 January 1782.

Second batch

• Greyhound
  HMS Greyhound (1773)
  HMS Greyhound was a Modified sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was first commissioned in October 1775 under Captain Archibald Dickson.-References:...
  
  
  • Ordered: 25 December 1770
  • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
  • Keel laid: February 1771
  • Launched: 20 July 1773
  • Completed: October 1775 to 9 January 1776 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked off Deal 16 August 1781.
• Triton
  HMS Triton (1773)
  HMS Triton was a Modified sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was first commissioned in August 1775 under Captain Skeffington Ludwidge.-References:...
  
  
  • Ordered: 25 December 1770
  • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
  • Keel laid: February 1771
  • Launched: 1 October 1773
  • Completed: 15 October 1773 to 4 November 1775 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in January 1796.
• Boreas
  HMS Boreas (1774)
  HMS Boreas was a Modified sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was first commissioned in August 1775 under Captain Charles Thompson.-References:* Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9....
  
  
  • Ordered: 25 December 1770
  • Built by: Hugh Blaydes & Hodgson, Hull.
  • Keel laid: May 1771
  • Launched: 23 August 1774
  • Completed: 13 September 1774 to 23 October 1775 at Chatham Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Sheerness Dockyard May 1802.