HMS Mermaid (1784)
On 21 March 1782 the order was canceled and moved instead to Thomas Pollard, at Sheerness Dockyard, and the frigate was again laid down, on 29 July 1782.[6] On 30 October 1795 Robert Waller Otway received promotion to post-captain; he took command of Mermaid the next month at Grenada.At the time Grenada and several of the other islands were in a state of insurrection, with the slaves joining the French inhabitants under the leadership of Julien Fédon in opposition to the British.[7] Mermaid and Resource, on 10 December 1796, captured the French brig-corvette Général Leveau, of 16 guns and 80 men, off San Domingo.[10] On 20 April 1797 Mermaid formed part of a squadron under Captain Hugh Pigot in the 32-gun frigate Hermione, that also included Quebec, the 14-gun brig Drake, and the cutter Penelope.[17] Two days later, Mermaid and Sylph met up with Phaeton, having captured the American vessel Eliza, which had sailed from Batavia for Amsterdam via Boston, where she had changed her papers but not her cargo.[18] In addition to Mermaid, Phaeton, and Sylph, Anson and Nymphe shared in the proceeds of the capture of both vessels.[21] While patrolling off the Penmarks on 29 June 1798 Mermaid, Pique, and Jason came across the French frigate Seine, which was bound for Lorient.Mermaid was detached to operate off Corunna and together with Sylph, captured the Spanish packet Golondrina on 24 March 1799 after a 15-hour chase.She was under the command of Don Juan El Busto and was 39 days out of Havana on her way to Corruna with a cargo of sugar, cocoa, and indigo.[24] In April 1799 Captain Robert Dudley Oliver, replaced Newman-Newman in command of Mermaid off France and Italy.One evening Oliver anchored Mermaid within grapeshot of the fort, which he cannonaded for an hour while two boats went in and cut out six vessels.[29] Four days later Mermaid captured the Genoese settee Nostra Dame de Rosario, which was carrying wheat from Marseilles to Genoa.[29] Then on 1 June about 12 leagues (58 km) southward of Les Hières Mermaid captured Cruelle, which was eight hours out of Toulon.Cruelle was a brig of six guns, four of which she had thrown overboard during the chase, and had a crew of 43 men under the command of Ensigne de vaisseau Francis Xavier Jeard.[25] On 18 February 1801, Mermaid and Mercury captured the ship Esperanza (or Esperance), which had sailed from Tunis with a cargo of silk, cotton, and other merchandise.[33] Three days later, Mermaid captured the Genoese settee Beato, sailing from Selloa to Port Maurice with wine.[37] On 30 November, Edinburgh, Furieuse and Mermaid embarked 1,000 men of the Italian levy, under the command of Lieut-Colonel Catanelli, at Milazzo.Some 600 cavalry and infantry from the Livorno garrison attacked the troops, who routed them, capturing two field pieces and a howitzer.[38] In early 1814, a British squadron, consisting of Milford, Eagle, Tremendous, Mermaid, Wizard, and Weazel joined a force of 1500 Austrians to capture Trieste and its 80 guns.This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.