HMS Leopard (1790)
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HMS Leopard was a British 50-gun 4th rate involved in the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair. She was built in 1775 at Portsmouth Dockyard and finally launched in 1790 from Sheerness. In early 1807, a number of British and American sailors deserted their respective ships, then blockading French ships in Chesapeake Bay, and joined the crew of the USS Chesapeake.
In an attempt to recover British sailors (or possibly to press American sailors into the service of the Royal Navy), Captain Salisbury Pryce Humphreys hailed the USS Chesapeake and requested permission to search it. Commodore of the Chesapeake, James Barron, refused, and the Leopard opened fire. The former surrendered, and Humphreys boarded to search for deserters. Three Americans and a British sailor were captured and hanged at Halifax. Though many subsequently believed the affair to be a prelude to the War of 1812, at the time it did little more than strain diplomatic relations between the United States and Britain.
In 1812, the Leopard was converted to a troopship. On June 28, 1814, she was en route from England to Quebec when she grounded on Anticosti Island in heavy fog. The ship was destroyed but none of those on board were lost.
