Hindostan embodies the close visual and functional relationship between large merchantmen and fourth rates. Built for the East India Company and launched in 1789, she entered Royal Navy service in 1795 rather than being purpose-built as a warship. Her conversion answered an immediate operational need while preserving the strategic ambiguity created by merchantmen and fourth rates sharing similar hull forms. She served until a fire destroyed her in Rosas Bay in 1804, giving the converted vessel roughly fifteen years of life from launch.
Chapter · 39:00-40:29
HMS Hindostan turned an East Indiaman into a fourth rate
The Royal Navy purchased the East India Company ship Hindostan in 1795 and converted her into a 56-gun fourth rate.