HMS Mermaid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Mermaid after the mermaid.
- An early Mermaid had John Tyrrell (Oakley) appointed captain on 18 April 1682
- HMS Mermaid (28), launched 1761, was the archetype of the Mermaid class frigates adapted from a French prize - 124 feet long, 612 tons, armed with 24 x 9, 4 x 3 and 12 swivels. Six of her class were built including HMS Hussar lost at Hells Gate, New York, 1780. On 8 July 1778 she was cast ashore on the Maryland coast by her captain James Hawker to avoid surrendering to the French under Comte d'Estaing.
- Mermaid was a one-of-a-kind frigate which served in the Royal Navy from 1973 to 1977 and was transferred to the Royal Malaysian Navy, where it was commissioned as KD Hang Tuah. It was sent to Singapore in 1974 to patrol the waters for about a year. She survives as a training ship.
