December 27, 1776. At Chatham Dockyard, HMS Pegasus slid into the water. Sleek lines, a carved figurehead, fourteen guns ready. She was the sixth of twenty-five Swan-class sloops ordered by the Admiralty. A sister ship to HMS Fly, she carried a wealth of carvings and decorations.
An 18th-century Swan-class sloop in full sail, a glimpse of the ship Pegasus would have been.
Swan-class sloops were elegant and fast. Designed to patrol, escort, and deliver messages. Pegasus’s hull was narrow, her rigging precise. Every detail mattered. Fourteen guns and sixteen swivel cannons. Enough to defend. Enough to strike.
Her career was brief. Commissioned under Commander John Hamilton Gore, she sailed for Newfoundland on April 3, 1777. By October, a storm claimed her. All hands were lost.
Yet she lives today through model kits. Builders can trace her curves, her deck, her armament. The Amati kit follows the original plans faithfully. Every plank, every fitting, recalls the care shipwrights gave Pegasus in 1776.
Partially assembled HMS Pegasus model.
History and craft meet in this way. Holding a model of Pegasus is to hold the echo of a vanished ship. To see not just wood and brass, but skill, purpose, and a life cut short by the sea.
Tip for modelers: Study her history first. Knowing Pegasus’s story changes how you approach every plank and detail. Build not just with hands, but with memory.
HMS Pegasus may have vanished beneath the waves, but through careful hands, she sails again.
Finished HMS Pegasus model ready to display.
If you’d like to bring HMS Pegasus to life on your own workbench, explore the Amati kit here.