British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714–1792

Design, Construction, Careers and Fates

Rif Winfield

• Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781844157006
• eBook ISBN: 9781783469253
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The 2nd volume in this comprehensive naval history details the design and employment of British warships through the 18th century.  
 
The Hanoverian dynasty that came to power with the accession of George I in 1714 inherited the largest navy in the world. In the course of the century, this force would see a vast amount of action against nearly every major navy, reaching a pinnacle of success in the Seven Years War only to taste defeat in the American Revolution. This superb reference book outlines the service history of every ship that fought for the Royal Navy in the great wars of the eighteenth century—well over 2000 vessels.
 
The book is organized by Rate, classification and class. The technical and building data of each ship is followed by a concise summary of its career. This includes commissioning dates, refit periods, changes of captain, the stations where they served, and details of any noteworthy actions in which they took part.
 
It will enable anyone to follow up a casual reference to any warship, and will provide the researcher with a solid core of information on which to base further study. With its unique depth of information, this is a work of the utmost importance to every naval historian and general reader interested in the navy of the sailing era.

1 First Rates of 100 guns

The three-deckers, particularly the First Rates, were rarely brought into service in peacetime, and earlier vessels saw little active service even in wartime. The First Rates, in fact, served largely as deterrence weapons before about 1778, with the lack of real activity that such a label signifies. This results in an embarrassing brevity in the service histories of these ships, although this brevity only reflects reality. The London, as an extreme example, went through two rebuildings between 1697 and her final taking to pieces in 1747, and was only recommissioned for one six-month period in this half-century.

Apart from a brief period between the 1703 and 1716 Gun Establishments, the 42pdr gun was traditionally the primary weapon in the LD battery of the First Rate from 1637 until late in the 18th century. The standard 42pdr gun at the start of the 18th century was a weapon of 9½ft length. Under the 1703 Establishment of Guns, First Rates were intended to be re-armed with 32pdrs (then still called demi-cannon) instead of the 42pdrs (cannon-of-seven), but the 42pdrs were restored in the 1716 Establishment of Guns, and now were of 10ft length and 65cwt. At the same time the MD battery was upgraded from 18pdrs to 24pdrs. In 1778 Keppel arranged to have the Victory’s 42pdrs replaced by 32pdrs. This arrangement remained unique until 1790, when other First Rates were ordered to replace their 42pdrs by 32pdrs at the earliest opportunity. Nevertheless, some First Rates were not re-armed with 32pdrs until early in the 19th century.

(A) Vessels in service or rebuilding at 12 August 1714

At the death of Queen Anne, there were nominally seven First Rates in the British Navy; however the Queen and Royal William had both been taken to pieces (BU) and were rebuilding, and thus appear only under their new guise below. The remaining five First Rates were all lying in Ordinary (i.e. reserve); of these the Royal Sovereign and Royal Anne were both described as being in good condition, and the London as needing ‘small repairs’, while both the Britannia and Victory were in need of rebuilding. Following the inauguration of the Hanoverian regime, the Victory was renamed Royal George on 27 October 1714, but on 9 September 1715 the name Victory was restored to this ship, and the name Royal George was bestowed instead on the former Queen, then about to be re-launched.

All the First Rates were established with 100 guns and 780 men in wartime, and with 90 guns and 580 men in peace; the exception in 1714 was the Royal Sovereign, which by then had been classed as carrying 110 guns with 850 men, although apparently this distinction was not perpetuated.

Owing to the practice of rebuilding, the origins of the First Rates in particular were somewhat confused and needs some explanation. No entirely new First Rates were built between the Britannia of 1682 and the Royal George launched in 1756. In principle, throughout the period of the Establishments, the British Navy maintained on the Navy List seven such First Rates, but often several were only maintained in theory, as ships taken to pieces for ‘rebuilding’ would not be re-completed – or even restarted – for some considerable period.

BRITANNIA. The sole First Rate provided for under the 1677 ‘30 Ships’ Programme, and designed as well as built by Sir Phineas Pett. Significantly larger than her predecessors (except the 1637 Sovereign); initially found to be rather crank, but was girdled (widened) in 1691-92, and subsequently regarded as the best First Rate in the fleet.

Britannia Chatham Dyd. [M/Shipwright Phineas Pett to end 1680, completed by Robert Lee]

Dimensions & tons: (1677 ‘Establishment’) 165ft 0in, 137ft 8in x 46ft 0in x 19ft 2in. 1,550 bm; (as completed) 167ft 5in, 136ft 0in x 47ft 4in x 19ft 2½in. 1,620⁷⁰/₉₄ bm.

(as girdled by AO 3.10.1691) 167ft 5in, 135ft 8in x 48ft 8in x 19ft 8in. 1,709¹³/₉₄ bm.

[There are wide variations in the data recorded in official records; the above represents the best available deductions.]

Men: 780 (war) / 580 (peace). Guns: (1703 Establishment) LD 28/26 x 32pdrs; MD 26/24 x 18pdrs; UD 28/24 x 9pdrs; QD 12/10 x 6pdrs; Fc 4/4 x 6pdrs; RH 2/2 x 6pdrs.

Ord: 5.3.1678. L: 8.1682 then laid up.

Refitted at Chatham under Special Commission of 1684-88 (for £2,315 for hull, and £2,138 for rigging & stores). Girdled 1691-92.

Commissioned 2.1691 under Capt. John Fletcher; flagship of Adm. Sir Edward Russell 1692-93 (with David Mitchell Capt. of the Fleet); at Battle of Barfleur 19.5.1692; in Action in La Hougue Bay 23/24.5.1692; paid off 12.1695. Recommissioned 2.1696, still under Fletcher, as flagship of Adm. Lord (John) Berkeley off the French coast; paid off 10.1697. Major Repair 1700-01. Recommissioned 1.1702 under Capt. John Leake, as flagship of Adm. Russell (the now Earl of Pembroke); paid off 6.1702. Recommissioned 2.1705 under Capt. John Norris, as flagship of Adm. Sir Cloudisley Shovell; in attack on Barcelona 1705; paid off 8.1707 and laid up 1709. By August 1714 this ship was incapable of further service, and was to be BU in 1715 to be RB 1716-19 (see below).

VICTORY. The rebuilding of this ship in the 1690s was somewhat circuitous. The old Second Rate Victory (built 1666) was ordered to be rebuilt by AO 10.11.1690, but seemingly this ship was condemned by survey and was BU in 1691 (by AO 5.3.1691); instead the Royal James (built 1675) was renamed Victory 3.3.1691, and finally paid off 2.1694 for this purpose.

Victory Chatham Dyd. [M/Shipwright Robert Lee]

Dimensions & tons: 163ft 1in, 136ft 0in x 45ft 4in x 18ft 6in. 1,486⁶³/₉₄ bm.

Men: 780 (war) / 580 (peace). Guns: (1703 Establishment) LD 26/24 x 32pdrs; MD 28/26 x 18pdrs; UD 28/24 x 9pdrs; QD 12/10 x 6pdrs; Fc 4/4 x 6pdrs; RH 2/2 x 6pdrs.

RB Ord: 1691. K: ?early 1694. L: 1695.

Commissioned 10.1695 under Capt. Thomas Jennings. In 1.1696 under Capt. Stafford Fairbourne, then 2.1696 under Gabriel Hughes (temp._ and 5.1696 Capt. Edward Whitaker, as flagship of Vice-Adm. Matthew Aylmer; paid off 6.12.1697. Recommissioned 2.1702 (but not manned!) under Capt. David Greenhill. In 2.1703 under Capt. Christopher Myngs, as flagship of Rear-Adm. Sir John Munden (who was dismissed by the Queen, in spite of exoneration by a court-martial in 1702); paid off 5.1703. Recommissioned 12.1704 under Capt. John Hartnell; laid up by AO 26.1.1705, and company transferred to Royal Sovereign; paid off 16.2.1705. In dockyard hands 1709-1714; renamed Royal George 27.10.1714, but name restored to Victory 9.9.1715. ‘Taken down to Middle Deck’ (by AO 6.6.1716) at Cork 6 – 7.1716, ‘to draw less (water) at … moorings and (be) more easily transported between moorings, saving trimming the hull’; never subsequently recommissioned. Docked at Portsmouth 16.3.1721 to BU. Partly burnt by accident 1721, and taken to pieces at Portsmouth (for £507.8.4d) 4.1721 to RB.

ROYAL SOVEREIGN. The most prestigious ship in the fleet, the old Royal Sovereign – originally built in 1637, and rebuilt in 1660 and 1685 – was largely destroyed in an accidental fire at Chatham in January 1696. Her replacement, nominally a ‘rebuilding’, thus in practice involved building an entirely new ship, and the talented shipwright Fisher Harding was transferred deliberately to Woolwich and given virtually a free hand in creating the highly successful replacement. The proposed dimensions under Harding’s draught were 173ft x 49ft 6in x 19ft.

Royal Sovereign Woolwich Dyd. [M/Shipwright Fisher Harding]

Dimensions & tons: 174ft 6in, 141ft 7in x 50ft 3½in oa (50ft 0in for calc.) x 19ft 1in. 1,882⁷¹/₉₃ bm.

Men: 780 (war) / 580 (peace). Guns: (1703 Establishment) LD 28/26 x 32pdrs; MD 28/26 x 18pdrs; UD 28/24 x 9pdrs; QD 12/12 x 6pdrs; Fc 4/2 x 6pdrs.

RB (in theory) Ord: 29.10.1697. L: 25.7.1701.

Commissioned 1.1702 under Capt. Thomas Ley (died 19.9.1702), with 2nd Capt. John Fletcher, as flagship of Adm. Sir George Rooke (-1703), for Cadiz; at Battle of Vigo Bay 12.10.1702; in 1703 Capt. James Wishart replaced Ley; paid off 10.1703. Recommissioned 2.1705 under Capt. John Hartnell, as flagship of Vice-Adm. Sir Stafford Fairbourne, with Shovell and Peterburgh in the Mediterranean; paid off 10.1706. Recommissioned 1.1708 under Capt. James Littleton; paid off 7.1708, but recommissioned 12.1708. Fitted as a flagship by AO 26.2.1809. Recommissioned 1.1709 under Capt. Stephen Martin, as flagship of Adm. Sir John Leake; paid off 16.5.1709 and laid up at Chatham. Fitted out at Chatham by AO 1.1.1710. In 12.1709 under Capt. James Littleton, with 2nd Capt. James Moneypenny, as flagship of Adm. Sir Matthew Aylmer; paid off 10.1710. Not subsequently put back into service until ‘Great Repair’ of 1723-29.

ROYAL ANNE Group. In 1702 both the Saint Andrew and the London were ordered to be rebuilt, and enlarged to the dimensions specified below, in order to carry the same Establishment as the larger First Rates. The former ship, originally built in 1670 at Woolwich, was renamed Royal Anne by AO 8.7.1703. The latter, originally built in 1670 at Deptford, had already been rebuilt once at Chatham in 1679.

Dimensions & tons: 167ft 0in, 137ft 6in x 47ft 6in x 19ft 0in. 1,650 bm.

Men: 750. Guns (1703 Establishment): LD 26/24 demi-cannon (32pdrs); MD 28/26 culverins (18pdrs); UD 28/24 demi-culverins (9pdrs); QD 12/10 x 6pdrs; Fc 4/4 x 6pdrs; RH 2/2 x 6pdrs.

Royal Anne Woolwich Dyd. [M/Shipwright William Lee]

As rebuilt: 170ft 0in, 140ft 6in x 48ft 0in x 19ft 4in. 1,721⁸²/₉₄ bm.

Ord: 6.3.1702. L: 25.4.1704.

Commissioned 7.1705 under Capt. Richard Hughes, as flagship of Rear-Adm. John Jennings, then of Vice-Adm. Sir George Byng, for the Channel and Bay of Biscay. In 1706 under Capt. William Passenger (-1707), still Byng’s flag (-1709), for the Mediterranean; at Alicante 7.1706. In 1708 under Capt. James Moneypenny (-1709), in the Channel in 1708 and the Mediterranean 1709. In 1710 under Capt. Bartholomew Candler, as flagship of now Adm. Sir John Jennings; laid up at Chatham by AO 26.8.1710 until ordered to be RB (by AO 21.3.1727), and taken down at Chatham 5.1727 (RB in 1756 as Royal George – see below).

London Chatham Dyd. [M/Shipwright Benjamin Rosewell.]

As rebuilt: 168ft 0in, 137ft 6in x 48ft 0in x 19ft 2in. 1,685¹⁰/₉₄ bm.

Ord: 6.3.1702. L: 2.7.1706.

Commissioned 12.12.1706 under Capt. William Clevland; paid off 23.6.1707. Docked at Chatham 3.7.1718 for a Large Repair which apparently turned into another RB (see below).

The new Establishment of Dimensions introduced in June 1706 (henceforth the ‘1706 Establishment’) fixed what was intended as a permanent standard for the overall size and proportions of each Rated ship from 30 guns up to 90 guns, but the First (and also the Sixth) Rates were deliberately excluded from consideration, apparently – in the former case – because they were infrequent enough for each new one to be considered on its merits. Nevertheless in practice the Royal Sovereign of 1701 seems to have been accepted as the ideal size for a 100-gun ship, and its dimensions were to form the basis of the more detailed Establishment brought into use in 1719.

QUEEN. Originally built in 1673 as the Royal Charles, this ship was renamed Queen and rebuilt in 1693 as a ship of 1,658 bm, and was in 1714 again being rebuilt. She was to be renamed Royal George before being re-launched.

Men: 750. Guns (1703 Establishment): LD 26/24 demi-cannon (32pdrs); MD 28/26 culverins (18pdrs); UD 28/24 demi-culverins (9pdrs); QD 12/10 x 6pdrs; Fc 4/4 x 6pdrs; RH 2/2 x 6pdrs.

Royal George Woolwich Dyd. [M/Shipwright Jacob Acworth to 11.1714, then John Naish to 7.1715, completed by John Hayward]

Dimensions & tons: 171ft 9in, 139ft 7in x 49ft 3in x 19ft 6in. 1,800⁸⁴/₉₄ bm.

Ord: 29.8.1706. K: 3.5.1709. L: 30.9.1715. C: 18.10.1715.

First cost: 28,707.2.5¾d including fitting.

Not recommissioned until 1741. Renamed Royal George by AO 9.9.1715. Great Repair at Chatham (for £25,465.4.8d) 3.1735 – 3.1737.

Commissioned 1741 under Capt. Edward Falkingham (-1742), for Norris’s fleet. Repaired and fitted as a 90-gun ship (but remained classed as First Rate) at Chatham (for £18,092.12.6d) 8.1742 – 7.1745. In 1744 under Capt. Charles Cotterel, at Chatham; by AO 15.11.1744 fitted as a flagship; recommissioned 10.1745 under Capt. Thomas Ha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Sources
• Illustrations
• The Data
• Bibliography
• Introduction
• Chronology and Fleet Actions
• Glossary and Abbreviations
• Abstract of Annual Statistics
• Chapter 1: First Rates of 100 guns
• Chapter 2: Second Rates of 90 and 98 guns
• Chapter 3: Third Rates
• Chapter 4: Fourth Rates
• Chapter 5: Fifth Rates
• Chapter 6: Sixth Rates
• Chapter 7: Ship (three-masted) Sloops
• Chapter 8: Two-masted Sloops
• Chapter 9: Cutters and Schooners
• Chapter 10: Miscellaneous Vessels
• Appendix A: The American Navy 1775-1785