English ship Cheriton (1656)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Cheriton and HMS Speedwell.

History
England [1]
Name	Cheriton
Namesake	Battle of Cheriton, 1644
Operator	Navy of the Commonwealth of England   Royal Navy (from 1660)
Ordered	28 December 1654
Builder	Manley Callis, Deptford Dockyard
Launched	16 April 1656
Commissioned	1655
Renamed	HMS Speedwell (in 1660)
Fate	Wrecked in 1676
General characteristics as built 1656
Type	20-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen	23280⁄94 bm
Length	76 ft 0 in (23.2 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	24 ft 0 in (7.3 m) for tonnage
Draught	11 ft (3.4 m)
Depth of hold	9 ft 0 in (2.7 m)
Sail plan	ship-rigged
Complement	90 in 1660, 100 in 1666, 125 by 1676
Armament	As built 1655 16 x demi-culverins (UD) 4 x sakers (QD)

Cheriton was a fifth-rate warship of the Commonwealth of England's naval forces, one of six such ships ordered on 28 December 1654, all 6 built in the state dockyards (the others were Pembroke, Dartmouth, Norwich, Wakefield, and Oxford). She was built by Master Shipwright Manley Callis at Deptford Dockyard, and was launched on 16 April 1656 as a 20-gun Fifth rate. She was named Cheriton to commemorate the Roundhead victory at the Battle of Cheriton in 1644.

Her length was recorded as 76 feet 0 inches (23.2 metres) on the keel for tonnage calculation. The breadth was 24 feet 0 inches (7.3 metres) with a depth in hold of 9 ft 0 in (2.7 m). The tonnage was thus calculated at 23280⁄94 bm tons. ^[1]

She was originally armed with 20 guns, comprising 16 demi-culverins on the single gundeck and 4 sakers on the quarterdeck. At the Restoration in 1660 she was taken into the Royal Navy and renamed as HMS Speedwell. By 1665 she actually carried 26 guns, comprising the 16 demi-culverins on the gundeck, and now with 10 sakers on the quarterdeck. The Speedwell took part during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665 ^[1] In the spring of 1676 the Speedwell was sent on a voyage of Arctic exploration to seek the North East Passage under Captain John Wood, but on 29 June she ran ashore on the coast of Novya Zemlya island, and was broken up by the pounding surf. ^[2]

Citations

1. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714, p.157.
2. David Hepper, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1640-1860 (Seaforth Publishing, 2023), ISBN   978-1-3990-3102-8.

References

• Rif Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603 – 1714, by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, ISBN   978-1-84832-040-6, EPUB ISBN   978-1-78346-924-6, Chapter 5, The Fifth Rates
• Jim Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by James J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, EPUB ISBN   978-1-5267-9328-7.