HMS Hector (1774)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hector.

HMS Hector was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 May 1774 at Deptford.^[2]

Going aboard Hector in 1891
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Hector
Ordered	14 January 1771
Builder	Adams, Deptford
Laid down	April 1771
Launched	27 May 1774
Honours & awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"[1]
Fate	Broken up, 1816
General characteristics [2]
Class & type	Royal Oak-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1622 (bm)
Length	168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam	46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 28 ×  32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 ×  18-pounder guns QD: 14 ×  9-pounder guns Fc: 4 ×  9-pounder guns

Career

HMS Hector and Bristol in distress during the Great Hurricane of 1780

On 10 January 1778 she captured French merchant ship "Thomas Koulican" (or Kouli Kan) at (46°00′N 09°00′W).^[3] On 9 May 1801 Hector, Kent, and Cruelle unsuccessfully chased the French corvette Heliopolis, which eluded them and slipped into Alexandria.^[4]

Because Hector served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.^{[Note 1]}

Fate

Hector was converted for use as a prison ship in 1808, and was broken up in 1816.^[2]

Notes

1. A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.^[5]