HMS Comet (1807)
HMS Comet was launched in 1807 as a Thais-class fireship of the Royal Navy. In 1808 the class were re-rated as sloops, and in 1811 they were re-rated as 20-gun sixth rates. Comet participated in one action that resulted in her crew being awarded the Naval General Service Medal, and some other actions and captures. The Navy sold her in 1815. In 1816 she became an East Indiaman, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She sailed between the United Kingdom and Ceylon. It was on one of these journeys that she was wrecked on Cole House Point on the River Thames on 9 August 1828. Royal Navy Commander Cuthbert Featherstone Daly commissioned Comet in January 1808 for the Channel. In June 1808 and Comet went to St Andero to assist Spanish loyalists and bring off any British subjects. On 21 June boats from Cossack and Comet landed seamen and Royal Marines who spiked the guns of Fort St Salvador de Ano and Fort Sedra, near the town of St Andero, to prevent them falling into French hands. They also blew up two magazines, during which Captain Daly of Comet and Lieutenant Read of the Marines