Speedy-class brig

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The Speedy-class brigs were two small, fast ships built for the Royal Navy near the end of the American War of Independence. They were designed in 1781 by Dover shipwright Thomas King to have a cutter‑style hull, helping create a new type of brig sloop: a small, quick escort vessel that was faster but not as seaworthy as a ship‑sloop. The two ships were HMS Speedy and HMS Flirt.

They were about 207 tons burthen, around 78 feet 3 inches long overall, with a keel length of 59 feet, a beam of about 25 feet 8 inches, and a hold depth of about 10 feet 10 inches. Their armament consisted of fourteen 4-pounder guns and twelve half‑pounder swivel guns, with a crew of about 70.

Neither ship saw much action in the American War and most of their early years were spent in British waters. Flirt sailed to the Caribbean in 1791 but was laid up in 1792 and sold in 1795. Speedy remained in service at the start of the war with revolutionary France, serving in the Mediterranean under several notable captains. She was captured in 1794 but retaken within a year. Her last captain, Lord Cochrane, won notable feats, including forcing the surrender of the large Spanish warship Gamo, but Speedy was later forced to surrender after being pursued by a strong French squadron in 1801. Napoleon later donated Speedy to the Papal Navy, and she was broken up a few years afterward.