HMS Speedy was a 14-gun Speedy-class brig of the British Royal Navy. Launched in 1782 at Dover, Speedy initially served off the British coast. Transferred to the Mediterranean after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, she spent the rest of her career there, winning fame for herself in various engagements and often against heavy odds. Her first commander in the Mediterranean, Charles Cunningham, served with distinction with several squadrons, assisting in the capture of several war prizes. His successor, George Cockburn, impressed his superiors with his dogged devotion to duty. Speedy's next commander, George Eyre, lost her to a superior French force on 9 June 1794. She was soon retaken, and re-entered service under Hugh Downman, who captured a number of privateers between 1795 and 1799. His successor, Jahleel Brenton, fought a number of actions against Spanish forces off Gibraltar. Her last captain, Lord Cochrane, forced the surrender of a much larger Spanish warship, the Gamo. Speedy was finally captured by a powerful French squadron in 1801 and donated to the Papal Navy by Napoleon the following year. She spent five years with them under the name San Pietro, and was broken up in 1807.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Speedy_(1782)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1613:
The original Globe Theatre in London burned to the ground after a cannon employed for special effects misfired during a performance of William Shakespeare's Henry VIII and ignited the theatre's roof. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre
1776:
The first privateer battle of the American Revolutionary War was fought at the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet near Cape May, New Jersey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Turtle_Gut_Inlet
1967:
Actress Jayne Mansfield, her boyfriend Sam Brody, and their driver were killed in a car accident outside of New Orleans, while her children Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska Hargitay escaped with only minor injuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayne_Mansfield
1974:
Isabel Perón was sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, replacing her ill husband Juan Perón, who died two days later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Mart%C3%ADnez_de_Per%C3%B3n
2007:
Apple Inc. released the first generation iPhone, which revolutionized the smartphone industry and made the company one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
enterolith: A mineral concretion in the intestinal tract. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enterolith
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
To be a man is to be responsible: to be ashamed of miseries you did not cause; to be proud of your comrades' victories; to be aware, when setting one stone, that you are building a world. --Antoine de Saint Exupéry https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry