Name HMS Niger Builder Sheerness Dockyard Completed By November 1759 Construction started 7 February 1758 | Ordered 19 September 1757 Laid down 7 February 1758 Renamed HMS Negro in 1813 Launched 25 September 1759 | |
HMS Niger was a 32-gun Niger-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy.
History
She was launched in 1759.
In 1766, under the command of Sir Thomas Adams, the Niger travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador. Also on board were Constantine Phipps, and the English botanist Joseph Banks. The purpose of the journey was to transport a party of mariners to Chateau Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador to build a fort, to continue strengthening relations with the native population, and to survey some of the coast of Newfoundland.
Banks collected many species of plants and animals during that journey, including many which were previously unknown or undescribed by Europeans. In 1766 Banks met James Cook briefly in St. John's, Newfoundland, through their mutual friend Thomas Adams. This meeting would lead to Banks joining Cook on his first circumnavigation from 1769 to 1771.
Because Niger served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.
The Navy converted Niger to a prison hospital ship in May 1809, and renamed her Negro in 1813. She was sold in 1814.