HMS Swan (1767)

History
Name	HMS Swan
Ordered	18 January 1766
Builder	Plymouth Dockyard
Laid down	June 1766
Launched	21 November 1767
Commissioned	February 1768
Fate	Sold September 1814
General characteristics
Tons burthen	300 4⁄94 bm
Length	96 ft 5 in (29.4 m) (gundeck); 78 ft 10 in (24.0 m) (keel);
Beam	26 ft 9 in (8.2 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Complement	125
Armament	14 × 6-pounder guns;; 2 more added ca. 1780;

HMS Swan was the lead ship in the 14-gun Swan class of ship sloops, to which design 25 vessels were built in the 1760s and 1770s; she was launched on 21 November 1767. She bore the name HMS Explosion between 1779 and 1783 whilst being used as a fireship. She served during both the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary War before being laid up in 1801; she was sold for disposal in 1814.

Swan took Europe and sent her to Cowes around 17 July 1793.

References

Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
Winfield, Rif, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.