HMS Bravo (1794)

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

HMS Bravo was a 16-gun Firm-class floating battery of the Royal Navy, launched in 1794. The two-vessel class was intended to operate in shallow waters. Bravo spent her brief, uneventful service life as the flagship for Commodore Philippe d'Auvergne's flotilla at Jersey. After the Peace of Amiens Bravo was paid off in March 1802; she was sold in 1803.

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Bravo
Ordered	14 November 1793
Builder	M/shipwright John Tovery, Woolwich
Laid down	3 February 1794
Launched	31 May 1794
Fate	Sold in 1803
General characteristics
Class and type	Firm-class floating battery
Tons burthen	397 6⁄94 (bm)
Length	96 ft 0 in (29.3 m) (overall) 77 ft 8 1⁄8 in (23.7 m) (keel)
Beam	31 ft 4 in (9.6 m)
Draught	2 ft 8 in (0.8 m) / 2 ft 11 in (0.9 m)
Depth of hold	7 ft 4 in (2.2 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Topsail schooner
Complement	100
Armament	16 × 18-pounder carronades

Service

Sir John Henslow designed the class on the model of flat-bottomed Thames barges. Commander John Dawson commissioned Bravo in June 1794. Commodore d'Auvergne recommissioned her in July for the Jersey-based Channel Islands flotilla, of which he was the commander. In November the Admiralty re-rated Bravo as a sixth rate to give d'Auvergne a salary more commensurate with his rank and role.

Bravo did earn some prize money. She was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands.

Fate

Bravo was sold in Jersey in 1803.

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.