History
United Kingdom
Name	Princess Charlotte
Builder	Cowes
Launched	1805
Fate	Sold 1807
United Kingdom
Acquired	1807 by purchase
Fate	Foundered February 1809
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen	81 (bm)
Length	57 ft 10 in (17.6 m) (Keel)
Beam	18 ft 7 in (5.7 m)
Depth of hold	8 ft 5 in (2.6 m)
Sail plan	Schooner
Complement	25
Armament	4 × 12-pounder carronades

HMS Viper was launched at Cowes in 1805 as the mercantile schooner Princess Charlotte. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1807. Lieutenant William Towning commissioned her. On 9 (or 18) February 1809 she sailed from Cadiz for Gibraltar. She never arrived and was presumed to have foundered with all hands. ^{[1] [2]}

She was carrying as a passenger Robert Arbuthnot, the former Chief Secretary in Ceylon. ^[3]

Citations

References

• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN   0-948864-30-3.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-246-7.