HMS Resistance (1782)

Resistance's sister ship HMS Argo
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Resistance
Ordered	29 March 1780
Builder	Edward Greaves, Limehouse
Cost	£21,001[1]
Laid down	April 1781
Launched	11 July 1782
Completed	17 August 1782
Commissioned	March 1782
Fate	Accidentally blown up, 24 July 1798
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Roebuck-class fifth-rate
Tons burthen	894 84⁄94 (bm)
Length	140 ft 2 in (42.7 m) (gundeck) 116 ft (35.4 m) (keel)
Beam	38 ft 1 in (11.6 m)
Draught	10 ft 2 in (3.1 m)
Depth of hold	16 ft 4+1⁄2 in (5 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	300
Armament	Lower deck: 20 × 18-pounder guns Upper deck: 22 × 12-pounder guns Quarterdeck: Nil Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Resistance was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy launched in 1782. Based on the design of HMS Roebuck, the class was built for use off the coast of North America during the American Revolutionary War. Commissioned by Captain James King, Resistance served on the West Indies Station for the rest of the war. She captured the 24-gun corvette La Coquette on 2 March 1783 and then went on in the same day to participate in the unsuccessful Battle of Grand Turk alongside Horatio Nelson. Resistance then went for a refit in Jamaica, during which time King fell ill and was replaced by Captain Edward O'Bryen. O'Bryen commanded Resistance until March 1784 when she was paid off. In 1791 she was recommissioned as a troop ship, but was converted back into a warship in 1793 at the start of the French Revolutionary War, under Captain Edward Pakenham.

Resistance was sent to serve on the East Indies Station, where she was present at the capture of the 34-gun frigate Duguay Trouin on 5 May 1794. She then participated in the capture of Malacca on 17 August 1795. She was similarly part of the force that captured Amboyna Island on 16 February 1796, and Banda Neira on 8 March. Continuing the campaign to capture Dutch possessions in the East Indies, Resistance took Kupang, Timor, on 10 June 1797, but the native population rebelled against the new temporary governor. Pakenham fired on the town and then sent a landing party in to regain control, destroying most of Kupang in the process.

On 21 July 1798 Resistance cut out a Malay merchant sloop, and after ascertaining the legal ownership of the vessel, sailed to Bangka Strait to return her to her captain. Arriving on 23 July, Resistance anchored in the evening. At 1 a.m. on 24 July, Resistance suddenly caught fire and exploded, killing 332 people. Of the thirteen survivors, only four successfully reached Sumatra on a makeshift raft. Enslaved by local pirates, they were eventually rescued by the Sultan of Lingga.