HMS Hussar (1799)

Painting of Hussar's sister ship HMS Amazon
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Hussar
Ordered	15 February 1797
Builder	Woolwich Dockyard
Cost	£29,884
Laid down	August 1798
Launched	1 June 1799
Completed	11 November 1799
Commissioned	November 1799
Fate	Wrecked 8 February 1804
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Fifth-rate Amazon-class frigate
Tons burthen	1,04288⁄94 (bm)
Length	150 ft 3 in (45.8 m) (upper deck) 125 ft 8 in (38.3 m) (keel)
Beam	39 ft 6 in (12 m)
Draught	18 ft 1 in (5.5 m) (forward) 19 ft 8 in (6 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	13 ft (4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	284 (later 300)
Armament	UD: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Hussar was a 38-gun fifth-rate Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched at the end of 1799, the entirety of the frigate's career was spent serving in the English Channel and off the coast of Spain. Hussar primarily served as a convoy escort and cruiser, in which occupation the frigate took several prizes, including the French privateer Le General Bessieres. Towards the end of 1803 Hussar was sent to serve in Sir Edward Pellew's Ferrol squadron. On 8 February 1804 Hussar was returning to England with dispatches when the ship was wrecked off the coast of Île de Sein. The crew attempted to sail for home in a fleet of commandeered boats, but the majority were forced to go into Brest to avoid sinking in bad weather, where they were made prisoners of war.