1693 Programme Group

Last updated

Class overview
Name1693 Programme Group
Builders
  • Woolwich Dockyard
  • Thomas Ellis, Shoreham
  • Richard Barrett, Shoreham
  • Mrs. Ann Wyatt, Redbridge (Southampton)
Operators
  • English Red Ensign 1620.svg Kingdom of England
  • Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg Kingdom of Great Britain after 1707
Preceded by 1689 Programme Group
Succeeded by 1694 Programme Group
Built1693-1694
In service1694-1741
Completed4
Lost1
Retired3
General characteristics Specifications
Type32-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen35444⁄94 tons (bm)
Length
  • 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m) gundeck
  • 85 ft 0 in (25.91 m) keel for tonnage
Beam28 ft 0 in (8.53 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Sail plan ship-rigged
Complement
  • war 155 to 145 personnel
  • peacetime 110 personnel
Armament
  • as built
  • 4/8 × 4 demi-culverins (LD)
  • 22/20 × sakers (UD)
  • 6/4 × 4 minions (QD)
  • 1703 Establishment
  • 8/4 × 4 9-pdr guns (LD)
  • 22/20 × 6-pdr guns (UD)
  • 6/4 × 4-pdr guns (QD)
Notes4-pdr guns removed after 1714

The 1693 Programme of fifth rates were derived from the 1689 Programme vessels as demi-batterie ships. The concept was to have one tier of ordnance flush on the upper deck for use in all weathers on a freeboard of at least seven feet. The ordnance would be arranged with a minimum of ten gun ports on the upper deck. The lower deck would be provided with four ports for heavier guns that could only be used in calm weather. For added propulsion ten oar ports per side would be provided with a central loading port. Four 32-gun vessels to these specifications were ordered in early 1693 with three to be built by Contract and one in dockyard. [1]

Contents

Design and specifications

As with most vessels of this time period only order and launch dates are available. The dimensional data listed here is the specification data and the acceptable design creep will be listed on each individual vessel. The gundeck was 103 feet 9 inches (31.62 metres) with a keel length of 85 feet 0 inches (25.91 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 28 feet 0 inches (8.53 metres) with a depth of hold of 10 feet 6 inches (3.20 metres). The tonnage calculation would be 35444⁄94 tons (bm). [1] The ships would be sail powered carrying a ship-rigged sail plan. Also there was a provision for ten oar ports per side located between the gun ports on the lower deck. [1] Shoreham would be rebuilt to the 1719 establishment for 20-gun vessels. The establishment dimensions were 106 feet 0 inches (32.31 metres) with a keel length of 87 feet 9 inches (26.75 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 28 feet 4 inches (8.64 metres) with a depth of hold of 9 feet 2 inches (2.79 metres). The tonnage calculation would be 3740⁄94 tons (bm). [2] [3]

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverins [4] [Note 1] mounted on wooden trucks on the lower deck (LD) with two pair of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery would consist of between twenty and twenty-two sakers [5] [Note 2] guns mounted on wooden trucks with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four to six minions [6] [Note 3] guns mounted on wooden trucks on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side. [1] In the 1703 Establishment the old gun designations would be replaced by a system that designated the guns by the weight of shot fired. The demi-culverins would become known as 9-pounders, the sakers as 6-pounders and the minions as 4-pounders. [7] Therefore, their armament as of 1703 for Shoreham and Sorlings would be listed as four 9-pounder guns on the lower deck (LD), twenty 6-pounder 19 hundredweight (cwt) guns on the upper deck (UD) with four 4-pounder 12 cwt guns on the quarterdeck (QD). For Scarborough (renamed Milford) and Winchelsea would be rerated as 36-gun vessels with an increase in the 9-pounders to eight guns. [3]

Ships of the 1693 Programme Group

NameBuilderLaunch dateRemarks
Shoreham (1694) Thomas Ellis, Shoreham6 January 1694
  • rebuilt as 1719 Establishment sixth rate in 1724
  • sold in June 1744
Scarborough (1694) Woolwich Dockyard3 March 1690
  • taken by French on 18 July 1694
  • retaken 15 February 1697 and renamed Milford
  • Rebuilt at Deptford 1705
  • Wrecked Cape Corrientes, Cuba on 18 June 1720
Sorlings (1694) Richard Barrett, Shoreham19 March 1694
  • Taken by French 20 October 1705
  • Retaken February 1711 and sold
Winchelsea (1694) Mrs Ann Wyatt, Redbridge13 August 1694
  • Taken by French 6 June 1706

Notes

  1. ↑ A demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge
  2. ↑ A sacar or saker was a gun of 1,400 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 5.5-pound shot with a 5.5-pound powder charge.
  3. ↑ A minion was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Winfield 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1693 Programme
  2. ↑ Clowes (1898), Chapter XXVI, page 9
  3. 1 2 Winfield (2007), Chapter 6, Sixth Rates, Sixth Rates of 20 or 24 guns, Vessels acquired from 1 August 1714, 1719 Establishment Group
  4. ↑ Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, culverins, page 101
  5. ↑ Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Sakers, pages 102-103
  6. ↑ Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion, page 103
  7. ↑ Clowes (1898), Chapter XXII, page 248

Related Research Articles

HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Deptford Dockyard in 1694/95. She was assigned to the West Indies. She was wrecked along with HMS Bideford on Hispaniola in November 1699.

The 1694 Programme of 32-gun fifth rates were derived from the 1693 programme vessels as demi-batterie ships. The concept was to have one tier of ordnance flush on the upper deck for use in all weathers on a freeboard of at least seven feet. The ordnance would be arranged with a minimum of eleven gun ports on the upper deck. The lower deck would be provided with four to eight gun ports for heavier guns that could only be used in calm weather. For added propulsion ten oar ports per side would be provided with a central loading port. Nineteen more 32-gun vessels to these specifications were ordered in from 1694 to 1698 with thirteen to be built by contract and nine in dockyard.

HMS Betty was purchased on 24 April 1695. She was previously a privateer at Bristol in British service. After commissioning she went to the West Indies on trade protection duties. She was captured by the French while returning in 1695, but was retaken in 1696 by the British. She was again commissioned in British service and served in the Mediterranean, Guinea and did surveying work off Ireland. She was sold in 1702.

HMS Milford was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by William Hubbard of Ipswich in 1694/95.

HMS Shoreham was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built under contract at Shoreham in 1693/94. During the War of the English Succession she was involved in the unsuccessful operation at Camaret Bay. At the end of the war she helped take half a French convoy off Ireland. She then deployed to North America and the West Indies. She was rebuilt as a 20-gun sixth rate to the 1719 Establishment in 1719/21. She served in the Baltic as a bomb vessel then reverted to a sixth rate. She participated in operations in the West Indies during the initial years of the War of Austrian Succession before being sold in 1744.

HMS Scarborough was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built at Woolwich Dockyard in 1693/94. Shortly after commissioning she was taken by two French privateers and went under French service. She was recaptured in 1697 and renamed Milford. She spent some time off Africa then the West Indies. She was rebuilt in 1705. She was in the North Sea, the Mediterranean and finally the West Indies where she was wrecked in 1720.

HMS Sorlings was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built under contract at Shoreham in 1693/94. After commissioning she spent her time in trade protection services between Home Waters, North America, West Indies and the Mediterranean. She was captured by the French in October 1705. Incorporated into the French Navy, she was loaned to the Privateering squadron at Dunkerque then recaptured by the British in 1711 and sold.

HMS Winchelsea was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built under contract at Redbridge (Southampton) in 1693/94. After commissioning she was employed for trade protection in the North Sea, guard ship at Plymouth, briefly with Shovell's Fleet in the Channel and a brief visit to the West Indies. While on fisheries protection in the Channel she was taken by the French off Hastings in June 1706.

HMS Hastings was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham in 1694/95. She spent her brief career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters. She was wrecked in a storm off Waterford in December 1697.

HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Plymouth Dockyard in 1695/96. Shortly after commissioning she was wrecked in Baltimore Bay, Ireland on 30 April 1697.

HMS Fowey was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Mr. Flint of Plymouth in 1695/96. She was employed in trade protection and counter-piracy patrols in Home Waters and North America. She was in on the capture of a 50-gun Frenchman while returning from Virginia. She was taken by the French off the Scilly Islands in August 1704.

HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton) in 1695/96.

HMS Gosport was a 32-gun fifth rate built by William Collins of Shoreham in 1695/96. She spent her career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters, in North America and the West Indies. She was captured by the French in 1706.

HMS Hastings was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Isaac Betts of Woodbridge in 1696/98. She was employed in convoy service, trade protection and counter piracy patrols. She was wrecked off Greater Yarmouth in February 1707.

HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Portsmouth Dockyard in 1696/97. She was first employed off the Irish coast. She went to Newfoundland in 1702. On her return she was wrecked on the Isle of Wight in December 1705.

HMS Bridgewater was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Sheerness Dockyard in 1697/98.

HMS Ludlow was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Mrs. Anne Mundy of Woodbridge in 1697/98.

With the ascension of Queen Anne to the throne of England, these would be the first vessels associated to her reign. The vessels would be similar to the previous 1694 programme with one exception. The upper deck battery would be fully enclosed with a deck running from the foc's'le to the quarterdeck. This would protect the gunners and battery during an action with the enemy. In 1702 one vessel was ordered from dockyard. In 1703 two more were ordered from dockyard.

HMS Falcon was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Deptford Dockyard in 1703/04. Her initial assignment was with Sir Cloudesley Shovell's Fleet. She was then assigned to the Mediterranean where she was taken by the French in 1709.

HMS Fowey was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Chatham Dockyard in 1703/05. She spent her career in the Mediterranean and was taken by the French off Cape Gato, Spain in April 1709.

References

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