HMS Zebra ( 1780 ) HMS " Zebra " was an 16 - gun ( later 18 - gun ) " Zebra " - class ship sloop of the Royal Navy , launched on 31 August 1780 at Gravesend . She was the second ship to bear the name . After twenty years of service , including involvement in the West Indies campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars she was converted into a bomb vessel in 1798 . In this capacity she took part in attacks on French ports , and was present at both battles of Copenhagen . American Revolution . " Zebra " was built to a design by Edward Hunt , and launched and commissioned in August 1780 under Commander John Bourchier . She then served in the Downs Squadron during the closing stages of the American Revolutionary War . On 10 February 1781 she was in company with when they captured the American privateer " Revenge " . Then around 10 May she was in company with the sloop and the cutters and when they recaptured the " Industry " and the " Jenny " . " Zebra " sailed sailed for Jamaica on 10 February 1782 . On 14 April 1782 " Zebra " was with Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney , the commander - in chief of the Leeward Islands station , at the Battle of the Saintes . She was in Rear - Admiral Sir Samuel Hood ' s division . During fleet engagements , only large ships - of - the - line of over 50 guns traditionally took part in the battles and the small " Zebra " did not participate in a battle . Smaller vessels like " Zebra " would be used to relay messages , tow damaged ships out of the line or rescue seaman . On 28 June " Zebra " , under the command of Commander John Loncraft , was in company with when they captured the American privateer " Tartar " . On 19 January 1783 she captured the brig " Providence " on the Leeward Islands . Commander E . Pakenham took command in April 1783 in the Leeward Islands . She returned from the West Indies to the UK after 1783 . From January to October 1786 she underwent repairs at Woolwich . Commander C . Boyles commissioned her 1787 . Then between April and May 1789 she underwent fitting for service it the Channel . " Zebra " was recommissioned in August under Commander the Honourable Robert Forbes . In November 1790 she came under the command of Commander William Brown and sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 November . From April to July 1793 she was back at Woolwich for repairs . French Revolutionary Wars . Sloop . In June 1793 Commander Robert Faulknor recommissioned " Zebra " . He sailed her for the Leeward Islands on 26 November . In 1794 , " Zebra " participated in the capture of Martinique by the expeditionary force under the command of Admiral Sir John Jervis and Lieutenant General Sir Charles Grey . In February 1794 the English attacked Martinique . By 20 March , only Fort Bourbon and Fort Royal still held out . Jervis ordered the third rate ship of the line ( 64 guns ) , and the " Zebra " to take Fort Saint Louis . " Asia " was unable to get close , and so Commander Faulknor went in without " Asia " s help . Despite facing heavy fire , Faulknor ran " Zebra " close under the walls . He and his ship ' s company then used " Zebra " s boats to land . The British stormed the fort and captured it . " Zebra " lost only her pilot killed and four men wounded . Meanwhile the boats of the British fleet captured Fort Royal and two days later Fort Bourbon capitulated . Jervis promoted Faulknor to post - captain and gave him command of the French 28 - gun sixth - rate frigate " Bienvenue " , which the British had captured at Fort Royal and which Jervis renamed in Faulknor ' s honour . In 1847 , the feat earned the remaining survivors of " Zebra " s crew the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp " Zebra 17 March 1794 " . The crew also qualified for the clasp " 17 Mar . Boat Service 1794 " for the capture of the French frigate " Bienvenue " and other vessels in Fort Royal Bay . In March Commander Richard Bowen replaced Faulknor , only to be replaced in April by Lieutenant Lancelot Skynner . Commander George Vaughn replaced Skynner within the month . On 14 April 1794 " Zebra " was present at the capture of Basse - Terre , Guadeloupe . " Zebra " returned to Fort Royal on 4 December with the French schooner " Carmagnols " , which she had taken on 30 November off Saint Lucia . The " Carmangnole " had a crew of 35 men and was armed with 10 guns . The captures of Martinique , Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia yielded prize money for the captains and crews of the vessels involved , and for the army units . Early in 1795 , " Zebra " , under Captain Skinner , supported the British Army in suppressing an insurrection by the indigenous Caribs on St Vincent . Then captured the 10 - gun " Brutus " off Grenada on 10 October 1795 , followed by the 18 - gun French schooner " Républicaine " on 14 October 1795 . " Zebra " , under the command of Commander Norborne Thompson , shared in the prize money by agreement . In January 1796 , Commander David M ' Iver assumed command . Shortly thereafter , and " Zebra " captured a privateer and recaptured two schooners . On 12 September " Zebra " , under Commander John Hurst , captured the " Victoire " between Grenada and Tobago . " Victoire " was armed with six guns and had a crew of 65 men . She was eight days out of Guadeloupe and had captured a sloop from Barbados with a cargo of provisions for Martinique . had recaptured the sloop off Marie - Galante . At some point " Zebra " captured the Spanish ship " Santa Maria Magdalena " . Early in 1797 Admiral Henry Harvey sent " Zebra " to Tobago to gather a detachment of troops . " Zebra " then rendezvoused with Harvey and his flotilla at the island of Carriacou , in the Grenadines , for the invasion of Trinidad . The flotilla sailed from Carriacou on 15 February and arrived off Port of Spain on the 16th . At Port of Spain they found a Spanish squadron consisting of four ships of the line and a frigate , all under the command of Rear - Admiral Don Sebastian Ruiz de Apodaca . Harvey sent " Zebra " and some of the other smaller ships to protect the transports and anchored his own ships of the line opposite the Spanish squadron . At 2am on 17 February the British discovered that four of the five Spanish vessels were on fire ; they were able to capture the 74 - gun " San Domaso " but the others were destroyed . Later that morning General Sir Ralph Abercrombie landed the troops . The Governor of Trinidad , José Maria Chacón , surrendered the next day . " Zebra " shared with the rest of the flotilla in the allocation of £40 , 000 for the proceeds of the ships taken at Trinidad and of the property found on the island . Hurst died in March 1797 . It is not clear who sailed " Zebra " back to Britain for paying off and laying up . Bomb vessel . Between March and April 1798 , Wells & Co . converted " Zebra " to a bomb vessel at a cost of £4 , 319 . She then spent April through June at Deptford Dockyard undergoing a full conversion , which cost £7 , 392 . Commander Thomas Sparke recommissioned her in April . On 28 August 1799 " Zebra " was with the British fleet that captured the Dutch hulks " Drotchterland " and " Brooderschap " , and the ships " Helder " , " Venus " , " Minerva " , and " Hector " , in the Nieuwe Diep , in Holland . The capture of these vessels was part of the Anglo - Russian Invasion of Holland and preceded by two days the Vlieter Incident in which a large part of the navy of the Batavian Republic , commanded by Rear - Admiral Samuel Story , surrendered to the British navy on a sandbank near the Channel known as " De Vlieter " , near Wieringen . " Zebra " was also among the vessels sharing in the prize money from the Dutch vessels of the Vlieter Incident . In December 1799 " Zebra " was under Commander Edward Sneyd Clay in the North Sea . " Zebra " s , next major campaign was the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 . She suffered no casualties . In 1847 , " Zebra " s surviving crew qualified to receive the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp " Copenhagen 1801 " . Napoleonic Wars . Between March and May 1803 " Zebra " underwent another fitting out at Woolwich . Commander William Beauchamp - Proctor was appointed to command of her in April 1803 . On 20 July 1804 , " Zebra " was in the company of hired armed cutter " Favorite " and some other vessels when " Zebra " captured the " Shepherdess " . Nine days later , " Zebra " , captured the " Postillion " . In July and August 1804 " Zebra " participated in the squadron under Captain Robert Dudley Oliver in at the bombardment of French vessels at Le Havre . The bomb vessels ' shells and carcasses set the town on fire on 23 July . On 1 August , the vessels kept a continuous fire for three hours . Still , it is not clear that the bombardment did much damage to the French flotilla . " Zebra " was recommissioned in August 1804 under Commander William Parkinson . Lieutenant George Harris replaced him in 1805 . His replacement , in March 1806 , was Commander Thomas Whinyates . Under Whinyates " Zebra " was on the North Sea station . Commander William Bowles took over in 1807 . The " Zebra " then returned to Copenhagen for the second battle of Copenhagen in 1807 . " Zebra " joined the " Advanced Squadron " , which was protecting the batteries the British were building to support their attack on the city . On 17 August , the bomb vessels opened fire on the city ' s flotilla of row boats whose fire was harassing the left of the British line . " Zebra " was one of several vessels sharing in the capture of the Danish merchant vessel " Sally " on 22 August . On 2 September , the bomb vessels joined the land - based mortar batteries in bombarding Copenhagen . The bombardment set the town on fire and the Danes finally asked for an armistice on 5 September . The prize money for Copenhagen to an ordinary seaman was £3 8s . On 20 June 1808 , " Zebra " was in the Baltic , under the command of Thomas R . Toker , when she captured the Danish sloop " Emenzius " . Commander George Trollope took command in January 1809 . Fate . " Zebra " was laid up in May 1809 at Deptford . She was put up for sale on 13 August 1812 . She was sold there at that time .