HMS Hyaena

Four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hyaena (or HMS Hyæna), after the Hyena, a family of carnivorous mammals. Two others were planned but either commissioned under another name or cancelled.

HMS Hyaena (1778)

HMS Hyaena (HMS Hyæna) was a 24-gun Porcupine-class post-ship of the Royal Navy launched in 1778. The French captured her in 1793, took her into service as Hyène, and then sold her. She became a privateer that the British captured in 1797. The Royal Navy took her back into service as Hyaena and she continued to serve until the Navy sold her in 1802.

Early service

Launched in March 1778, she was commissioned in January 1779 for service in British home waters and the Caribbean, under the command of Captain Edward Thompson. She saw active service in the blockade and capture of French-controlled Gorée in April 1779, and eight months later was part of Admiral George Rodney's fleet which sailed to the naval relief of Gibraltar in January 1780.

Hyaena then returned to England, bearing reports of the battle and the disposition of Admiral Rodney's fleet. In August 1780, still under Thompson's command, Hyaena escorted a merchant convoy to New York and then turned south to the Caribbean. Thompson's orders were to use his ship and any other forces at his disposal to secure British control of Dutch settlements of Demerara and Essequibo. This was achieved despite a lack of resources, with Hyaena subsequently escorting merchant convoys between these new British possessions and the larger port of Barbados, and thence to England. Convoy in tow, Hyaena reached England in January 1782. Eighteen months in tropical waters had left her in poor condition, and she was promptly decommissioned and sailed to Woolwich dockyards for repair. The works were extensive and were completed at a final expense of ₤5,561, more than half the cost of Hyaena's original construction four years earlier.