HMS Martin was a 16-gun sloop

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

.

Construction and commissioning

Martin was a , built to a design by John Henslow

John Henslow

Sir John Henslow was Surveyor to the Navy a post he held jointly or solely from 1784 to 1806.-Career:He was 7th child of John Henslow a master carpenter in the dockyard at Woolwich...

 and ordered from Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....

 on 17 January 1788. She was worked on by Master Shipwright John Nelson until August 1790, after which she was completed by William Rule. She was launched on 8 October 1790 and commissioned on 13 January 1791, having cost a total of £8,732 to build, with a further £1,674 spent on fitting out.

Career

Martin’s first commander was George Duff

George Duff

Captain George Duff RN was a British naval officer during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, who was killed by a cannon ball at the battle of Trafalgar....

, under whom she sailed off the East coast of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. She passed under the command of Commander Richard Lane in February 1793, followed by Commander James Newman in May 1794 and then Commander Charles Garnier in August 1794. Commander William Lobb took over the Martin in April 1795, during which time she served as a Royal escort for Princess Caroline of Brunswick

Caroline of Brunswick

Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...

. Samuel Sutton

Samuel Sutton

Samuel Sutton was an officer in the Royal Navy. He entered the service shortly after the start of the American War of Independence, and spent most of his early career serving with Captain and later Admiral Joshua Rowley. He saw action at several engagements with the French fleets in the West...

 took command in September 1795, and departed Britain for the West coast of Africa on 10 December 1795, followed by a voyage to Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. Returning to British waters, on 14 February 1797 Martin and HMS Espion captured the 17-gun privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

 Buonaparte in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

. In June 1797 Martin came under the command of Charles Paget

Charles Paget (vice-admiral)

Vice Admiral Sir Charles Paget GCH Kt was a British sailor who also became a liberal politician and Member of Parliament.-Naval career:...

, under whom she was present at the Battle of Camperdown

Battle of Camperdown

The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...

 on 11 October 1797.

In November 1797 Martin was commanded by Commander John Cleland, followed by Commander William Renton in January 1798. Renton, while dining with other naval officers in Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

 in February 1799, committed suicide with a pistol. He was succeeded by Commander the Hon. Michael Sinclair or St. Clair, the brother of Lord Sinclair, who captained the Martin in escorting convoys in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 to Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 and captured the 14-gun privateer Vengeur off the Skaw

Skaw

Skaw is a tiny settlement on the Shetland island of Unst. It is located north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom...

 on 28 April 1799. The ship operated out of Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

 harbour at this time. John Brougham, youngest brother of Lord Brougham, was appointed to her as a midshipman and also Charles John Napier, the future admiral, whose father was a friend of Sinclair: Martin was Napier's first ship. John Brougham left her at Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

 in early 1800 and Napier was transferred to HMS Renown

HMS Renown (1798)

HMS Renown was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was to have been named HMS Royal Oak, but the name was changed to Renown on 15 February 1796....

in May 1800. Martin disappeared without trace in the North Sea in October of the same year and was supposed to have caught fire or foundered in heavy seas with all hands.