HMS Granado was launched at Harwich in 1742, during the War of the Austrian Succession as a sloop-of-war. During this war she captured a French privateer. During the Seven Years' War she served both as a sloop and as a bomb vessel, and participated in naval operations off the coast of France and in the West Indies. When the Navy sold her in 1763 she became the mercantile Prince Frederick. Around 1775 she became the whaler Prudence, sailing in the British northern whale fishery. Around 1781 she became a government transport and was wrecked on 20 May 1782 on the coast of India.
Royal Navy
Lieutenant Thomas Elliot commissioned Granado in July 1742 as a sloop for the Channel and North Sea. Commander Arthur Upton replaced Elliot in November. In January 1743 Commander William Parry replaced Elliot. She then served with Admiral John Norris's fleet in the Channel. Between April and May 1744 she escorted a convoy to Lisbon. In November she was under the command of Commander William Thomas.
Between May and September 1745 Granado was at Woolwich being fitted as a sloop. On 21 January 1746 Granado was under the command of Commander John Evans when she captured the French privateer Marianne, off Scarborough. Marianne was armed with 10 carriage guns and six swivel guns, and carried 80 men. Marianne struck after an engagement of an hour, during which she had eight men killed and 15 wounded. Granado had no casualties, but her sails and rigging were much damaged. Marianne had come from Calais and when captured had three ransomers on board. Grenado took Marianne into the Humber.
Between July and December 1746 Granado was at Sheerness, undergoing fitting. In August 1747 Commander Cornelius Smelt replaced Evans.
Granado was surveyed on 10 December 1748. A small repair at Woolwich followed in July–August 1749; she was then laid up.
Between February and May 1755 Granado was again fitted as a sloop. In April Commander Matthew Moore recommissioned her.
After the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, between August and September 1756, Granado was at Woolwich, being fitted as a bomb vessel. In August she was under the command of Commander John Fortescue. He sailed her for North America on 7 June 1757. Later in 1757 she was under the command of Lieutenant Robert Hathorn (acting).
In January 1858 she was under the command of Commander Samuel Uvedale (or James Mordale?). Later in 1758 she was at Saint-Malo, Cherbourg, and the Bay of St Cass. The British had invaded France in August and captured Cherbourg, from which they withdrew with captured war material and a ransom of £5000. In September elements of the British Army landed on the coast of Brittany, near Saint-Malo. The troops marched inland, before withdrawing to the Bay of St Cass. There, during the Battle of Saint Cast, the British rear-guard sustained significant losses in casualties and prisoners at the hands of the Irish Brigade, among other French forces, despite covering fire from the frigates and bomb vessels. Granado was among the many vessels of the naval squadron that shared in the proceeds of the capture on 18 August 1758 of the French privateer Guirland.
Granado sailed for the Leeward Islands on 12 November 1758, and arrived in time for the unsuccessful invasion of Martinique (1759), on 19 January 1759. The British force then sailed on to Guadeloupe. Between 22 January 1759 and 1 May, Granado participated in the invasion of Guadeloupe (1759).
After her return to England, Granado Commander John Botterell commissioned her in February 1760, for the Channel, though in April she underwent fitting at Portsmouth as a sloop. She was of Le Havre later that year. Between July and September 1761 she was at Portsmouth undergoing fitting as a bomb vessel. She sailed for the Leeward Islands on 30 October 1761.
Commander James Hawker recommissioned Granado as a bomb vessel in February 1762 being replaced in March by Commander Stair Douglas. Between 7 January 1762 and 10 February, she participated in the Invasion of Martinique (1762). In March she returned to Jamaica, from whence the invasion force had sailed. In July 1762 Granado was under the command of Commander Thomas Fraser. Next, between 6 June and 13 August 1762 she participated in the siege of Havana. The first of five payments of prize money for Havana occurred on 9 April 1764. The fifth and final payment occurred in 1772.
Disposal: Granado was paid off in June 1763. She was surveyed on 6 July. The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" first offered Granado for sale at Woolwich on 23 August. She sold on 30 August at Portsmouth for £575.