Surprise
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Surprise
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	10 April 1809
Builder	Milford Dockyard
Laid down	January 1810
Launched	25 July 1812
Completed	1 December 1812
Commissioned	September 1812
Fate	Sold 2 October 1837
General characteristics
Class and type	Leda-class frigate
Tons burthen	1072.35 (bm)
Length	150 ft 4 in (45.8 m) (gundeck) 125 ft 8+7⁄8 in (38.3 m) (keel)
Beam	40 ft 0+1⁄2 in (12.2 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	284 (later 300);
Armament	Upper deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades QD: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Surprise was a 38-gun frigate of the Leda class of the Royal Navy, although all these fifth-rate frigates were re-classed as 46-gun under the general re-rating of February 1817, from when carronades on the quarterdeck and forecastle were included in the rating.

Surprise was ordered on 10 April 1809 at Milford Dockyard in Pembrokeshire where her keel was laid down there in January 1810. She was launched on 25 July 1812, and sailed round to Plymouth Dockyard to be completed. Fitting out took place between 9 August and 1 December 1812, and she was commissioned in September 1812 under the command of Captain Sir Thomas John Cochrane, sailing for the West Indies on 19 December 1812.

During the War of 1812, under Cochrane's command, she served initially on the Leeward Islands, where she captured the American privateer Decatur on 16 January 1813. Decatur was pierced for 14 guns but mounted 12, and had a crew of 82 men. A shot from Surprise had wounded two men on Decatur, one of whom subsequently died. Decatur was 21 days out of Boston and but had made no captures.^[1]

Surprise, Elizabeth, Opossum, and Spider were in company on 13 March 1813 when they captured Lark.^{[Note 1]}

Subsequently, Surprise served on the North American station. From June 1814, her captain was George Knight, and she was present at the bombardment of Fort McHenry in September 1814.

Surprise was paid off and placed in ordinary in August or September 1815. By 1822, she had been reduced to a hulk at Milford, but was then fitted out at Plymouth as a convict hulk to be stationed at Cork, where she remained until sold (for £2,010) there in 1837.

Citations

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.

• HMS Surprise at the Naval Database website Archived 5 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine