HMS Dolphin (1799)

History
Dutch Republic
Name:	Dofijn
Builder:	Amsterdam
Laid down:	3 November 1777
Launched:	1780
Captured:	1799
UK
Name:	HMS Dolphin
Acquired:	1799 by capture
Fate:	Broken up 1803
General characteristics [1][2][3]
Tons burthen:	505 (bm)[2]
Length:	125' 7"(Amsterdam foot)[Note 1]
Beam:	34' (Dutch)
Depth of hold:	13' 2" (Dutch)
Propulsion:	Sails
Complement:	Dutch service:150-156 British service: n.a.
Armament:	Dutch service:20-24 guns British service: n.a.
Notes:	van Maanen states that the British captured or burnt Delfin in 1779,[1] i.e., before her completion date. The year 1779 appears to be a typographical error for 1799.

HMS Dolphin was the Dutch 7th Charter Dolfijn, launched in 1780 at Amsterdam.^[1] In 1781 she was under the command of Captain Mulder when she participated in the battle of Dogger Bank.^[4]

HMS Wolverine and HMS Arrow captured her on 15 September 1799 off Vlie Island. The Royal Navy took her into service and commissioned her in November as the sixth-rate HMS Dolphin under the command of Lieutenant R. M'Dougall.^[2] She became a transport in 1800, and a storeship in 1802. She was broken up in 1803.^[3]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. All linear measurements are in Amsterdam feet (voet) of 11 Amsterdam inches (duim) (see Dutch units of measurement). The Amsterdam foot is about 8% shorter than an English foot. The basis of measurement is also different.

Citations

1. van Maanen, p. 10.
2. Winfield (2008), p.235.
3. Winfield (2008), p.398.
4. Clowes (1898), Vol.3, p.506.

References

• Clowes, W. Laird, et al. (1897-1903) The royal navy: a history from the earliest times to the present. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co.; London: S. Low, Marston and Co.)
• van Maanen, Ron, Preliminary list of Dutch naval vessel built or required in the period 1700-1799. Unpublished manuscript.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.