HMS Espiegle
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Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Espiegle
- HMS Espiegle (1793) was a 16-gun French brig-sloop, launched at Bayonne in 1788. Nymphe and Circe captured her off Ushant on 30 November 1793.[1] She was sold in 1802.[2][3]
- HMS Espiegle (1794) was a French 12-gun aviso launched in 1793 at Saint-Malo. Iphigenia captured her in the Antilles on 16 March 1794.[a] She was commissioned under Lieutenant John Fishley. The Navy sold her in 1800.[8]
- HMS Espiegle (1804) was a 16-gun sloop, formerly the civilian vessel Wimbury (or Wembury), launched at Barnstaple in 1803. The Admiralty purchased her in 1804 and sold her in 1811 for breaking up.
- HMS Espiegle (1812) was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1812 and sold in 1832.
- HMS Espiegle (1844) was a 12-gun brig launched in 1844 and sold in 1861.
- HMS Espiegle (1880) was a Doterel-class composite screw sloop launched in 1880. She became a boom vessel in 1899, was renamed HMS Argo in 1904 and was sold in 1921.
- HMS Espiegle (1900) was a Cadmus-class sloop launched in 1900 and sold in 1923.
- HMS Espiegle (J216) was an Algerine-class minesweeper launched in 1942 and broken up in 1967.
A gun-boat named Espiegle served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March and 2 September 1801. Her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.[9]
