HMS Porcupine (1777)

HMS Porcupine was a 24-gun Porcupine-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy built in 1777 and broken up in 1805. During her career she saw service in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.

Construction and commissioning
The Porcupine cost £5,443.0.11d to build, plus £4,604.13.8d for fitting and coppering. She was commissioned under her first captain, William Finch, in December 1777.

Service
On 15 March 1779, the British warships Apollo, Porcupine, and HMS Milford (1759) captured the French privateer cutter HMS Tapageur (1779). The Royal Navy took her into service under existing name.

She came under the command of Captain Sir Charles Knowles around February 1780 and fought an action against two 36-gun xebecs off Valencia on 22 July 1781. On 30 July 1780 she and the sloop HMS Minorca engaged the French frigate Montréal, the former British frigate HMS Montreal (1761), off the Barbary coast. The two-hour engagement was indecisive and action was broken off.

In 1788, Porcupine took part in commemorations marking the hundredth anniversary of the siege of Derry.