HMS Sherborne (also HM cutter Sherborne, HMS Sherbourne) was a 10-gun cutter 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...

. She served in the English Channel for her entire career, operating against smugglers. She was sold in 1784.

Design and construction

Sherborne was built at 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....

 under the supervision of Master Shipwright Joseph Harris, to a design by Sir Thomas Slade

Thomas Slade

Sir Thomas Slade was an English naval architect, most famous for designing HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.-Career Outline:...

, and was launched on 3 December 1763, having cost £1,581.8.9d to build and fit.

Service

Sherborne was commissioned under Lieutenant John Cartwright

John Cartwright (political reformer)

John Cartwright was an English naval officer, Nottinghamshire militia major and prominent campaigner for parliamentary reform. He subsequently became known as the Father of Reform...

, later to become a prominent parliamentary reformer, and was assigned to support the work of the Board of Customs by operating against smugglers in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

. Cartwright commanded Sherborne from 7 December 1763 to 14 May 1766. His area of responsibility was the South Coast of England, including Dorsetshire and Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. His brother George

George Cartwright (trader)

George Cartwright , trader, explorer, born in Marnham, England, died unmarried in nearby Mansfield, England....

, when at loose ends, went with him in Sherborne on a cruise out of Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 to chase smugglers.

Lieutenant Christopher Raper succeeded Cartwright in 1766 as Sherbornes commander for the next three years. Between 1769 and 1777 the cutter was commanded successively by Lieutenants Stephen Rains, Thomas Rayment and Thomas Gaborian, all the while remaining based in the Channel. Her final commanders were Lieutenant Arthur Twyman, from September 1777 until May 1778, and then Lieutenant Arthur Hayne until September 1779. She was then laid up.

In 1783 Sherborne participated in William Tracey's unsuccessful attempt to raise HMS Royal George

HMS Royal George (1756)

HMS Royal George was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 18 February 1756...

, which had sunk in Spithead

Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

in 1782. Although the dockyard rated Sherborne as unfitted for service, Tracey conducted some repairs and she was of some use.