HMS Sandfly (1794)

History
Great Britain
NameHMS Sandfly
Ordered3 February 1794
BuilderWells & Co, Deptford
Laid down1794
Launched1794
CompletedBy 28 March 1795
Honours &
awards
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Isle St. Marcou"
FateBroken up in 1803
General characteristics
Class & typeMusquito-class floating battery
Tons burthen306394 (bm)
Length
  • 80 ft 2 in (24.4 m) (overall)
  • 56 ft 2+14 in (17.1 m) (keel)
Beam32 ft 1+14 in (9.8 m)
Depth of hold7 ft 112 in (2.3 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planTopsail schooner
Complement50
Armament
  • Upper deck: 2 × 24-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 × 68-pounder carronades

HMS Sandfly was a Musquito-class floating battery of the Royal Navy. The two-vessel class was intended to defend the Îles Saint-Marcouf (Marcou) situated off the Normandy coast. During her brief career Sandfly shared in the capture of one privateer and participated in a battle that would earn her crew the Naval General Service Medal. The Peace of Amiens returned the islets to France in May 1802; Sandfly was paid off in June 1802 and broken up in 1803.