HMS Fly (1804)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Fly |
| Ordered | 27 February 1802 |
| Builder | George Parsons, Burseldon |
| Laid down | May 1803 |
| Launched | 26 March 1803 |
| Fate | Wrecked 8 March 1805 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type | Merlin-class ship-sloop |
| Tons burthen | 36913⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 28 ft 2 in (8.6 m) |
| Depth of hold | 13 ft 9 in (4.2 m) |
| Complement | 121 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Fly was launched in March 1804. She was wrecked in March 1805.
Commander Robert O'Brien commissioned her. Commander the Honourable Pownoll Bastard Pellew replaced him in May, and sailed Fly to Jamaica.[1]
Fly was escorting a convoy of eight merchantmen when just before midnight on 7 March 1805 she struck a reef. Two of the vessels she was escorting also struck. Morning revealed that the vessels were close to the Florida shore, five miles south of Key Largo. Despite attempts to lighten Fly by cutting her masts and jettisoning her guns and shot, she was taking on water as the waves pounded her, weakening her beams. In the evening of 8 March her crew abandoned her; the other vessels of the convoy took them off. Several wrecking vessels arrived with the intention of salvaging whatever they could. The court martial found that the chart Pellew was using contained a major error.[2][a]
Lloyd's List reported that Fly and her convoy were coming from Honduras, and that the two merchantmen were Concord, Davis, master, and Rattler, Belmont, master.[4][b]