The Speedwell was a British 8 Cannon Sloop of Cruizer class . The ship was converted to an incendiary ship and renamed the Spitfire on August 27, 1779 , and was finally sold on December 5, 1780 at Sheerness for 160 pounds.
The ship took part in the Louisbourg expedition to Nova Scotia in 1757 under Vice Admiral Francis Holburne . In June 1758, as part of Commodore Richard Howe's squadron, the Speedwell escorted the 14,000-strong British invasion forces under the Duke of Marlborough to the French coast; the troops could be put ashore without difficulty on June 5th, but the planned attack on Saint-Malo was canceled due to hopelessness and the troops embarked again on June 11th and 12th. The Speedwell sailed ahead of the returning squadron with Marlborough's report. The Speedwell probably also took part in the second attempt in September of the same year ; the Battle of Saint-Cast ended in British defeat.
Captains
Captain James Webb, February 1753 - August 6, 1756
Commander Thomas Cornwall, August 6, 1756 - February 7, 1757
Captain Robert Bond, February 7, 1757 - January 13, 1758
Commander Joseph Fraine, January 13, 1758-March 1759
Commander Samuel Taylor, March 2, 1759 - March 1760
Commander Thomas Fitzherbert, March 14, 1760 - March 1761
Captain William Kite, March 4, 1761 - 1763
Commander Robert Fanshawe, June 1763-September 1766
Commander James Feattus, 1770--1773
Captain Richard Pearson, January 25, 1773-1776
Commander John Harvey, May 1776 - September 16, 1777
Captain John Harvey, September 16, 1777-May 1778
Commander Thomas Bornford Mainwaring, May 13, 1778 - 1779
↑ The Monitor, or The British freeholder , Volume 3, London 1758, p. 100 ( online )
^ William Mountaine: The Seaman's Vade-mecum and Defensive War by Sea , London 1761, p. 22 ( online )
^ A Complete history of the present war. , London 1761, p. 233 ( online )
↑ The Universal Magazine , Volume 22, 1758, p. 305 ( online )
↑ John Charnock: Biographia Navalis , London 1798, p 222 ( online )
↑ Isaac Schomberg : Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802. , Volume 4, London 1802, p. 246 ( online )
↑ John Charnock: Biographia Navalis , Volume 6, London 1798, p 364 ( online )
↑ John Charnock: Biographia Navalis , London 1798, p 442 ( online )
^ Isaac Schomberg: Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802. , Volume 4, London 1802, p. 48
^ New Monthly Magazine , Volume 9, London 1823, p. 374 ( online )
^ Robert Beatson : Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783 , Volume 6, London 1804 ( online )
↑ The Scots Magazine. , Volume 39, Edinburgh 1777, p. 342 ( online )
↑ The Scots Magazine. , Volume 40, Edinburgh 1778, p. 456 ( online )
↑ The Scots Magazine. , Volume 41, Edinburgh 1779, p. 576 ( online )
