HMS Levant (1758)

Levant's sister ship in the Coventry class, HMS Carysfort
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Levant
Ordered	6 May 1757
Builder	Henry Adams, Buckler's Hard, Hampshire
Laid down	June 1757
Launched	6 July 1758 at Buckler's Hard
Completed	16 June 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Commissioned	October 1758
In service	1758–1763 1766–1770 1771–1779
Out of service	1779
Honours and awards	Expedition against Martinique, 1762
Fate	Broken up at Deptford Dockyard, September 1780
General characteristics
Class and type	28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	595 34⁄94 bm
Length	118 ft 5 in (36.1 m) (gun deck) 97 ft 4 in (29.7 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 11 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	200
Armament	28 guns comprising: Gun deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 4 × 3-pounder guns 12 × ½-pdr swivel guns

HMS Levant was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Coventry class, which saw Royal Navy service against France in the Seven Years' War, and against France, Spain and the American colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Principally a hunter of privateers, she was also designed to be a match for small French frigates, but with a broader hull and sturdier build at the expense of some speed and manoeuvrability. Launched in 1758, Levant was assigned to the Royal Navy's Jamaica station from 1759 and proved her worth by defeating nine French vessels during her first three years at sea. She was also part of the British expedition against Martinique in 1762 but played no role in the landings or subsequent defeat of French forces at Fort Royal.

The frigate was decommissioned following Britain's declaration of peace with France in 1763, but returned to service in 1766 for patrol duties in the Caribbean. Decommissioned for a second time in 1770, she was reinstated at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War and sent to the Mediterranean as part of a small British squadron based at Gibraltar. Over the next three years she captured or sank a total of fourteen enemy craft including an 18-gun American privateer. In 1779 she brought home news of an impending Spanish assault on Gibraltar, ahead of Spain's declaration of war on Great Britain.

The ageing frigate was finally removed from Navy service later that year, and her crew discharged to other vessels. She was broken up at Deptford Dockyard in 1780, having secured a total of 31 victories over 21 years at sea.