English ship Colchester (1654)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Colchester.

History
England [1]
Name	Colchester
Operator	Navy of the Commonwealth of England   Royal Navy (from 1660)
Ordered	1 October 1653
Builder	Henry Edgar, Great Yarmouth
Launched	23 February 1654
Commissioned	1654
Fate	Sunk in action 1667
General characteristics as built 1654
Type	24-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen	2877⁄94 bm
Length	83 ft 0 in (25.3 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	25 ft 6 in (7.8 m) for tonnage
Draught	12 ft (3.7 m)
Depth of hold	11 ft 0 in (3.4 m)
Sail plan	ship-rigged
Complement	100 in 1660, 110 in 1666, 125 in 1667
Armament	As built 1654 18 x demi-culverins (UD) 6 x sakers (QD)

Colchester was a fifth-rate warship of the Commonwealth of England's naval forces, one of six such ships built under the 1653 Programme (the others were Islip, Fagons, Selby, Basing, and Grantham). She was built by contract with Master Shipwright Henry Edgar at his yard at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and was launched on 23 February 1654 as a 24-gun fifth rate. She was named Colchester to commemorate the attack on that town by Parliamentary forces under Thomas Fairfax in 1648 during the Civil War.

Her length on the keel was recorded as 83 feet (25.3 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth was 25 feet 6 inches (7.8 metres) with a depth in hold of 11 ft 0 in (3.4 m). The tonnage was thus calculated at 2877⁄94 bm tons. ^[1]

She was originally armed with 24 guns, comprising 18 demi-culverins on the single gundeck and 6 sakers on the quarterdeck. She took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657) as part of Blake's fleet. At the Restoration in 1660 she was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Colchester. By 1665 she actually carried 28 guns, comprising 18 demi-culverins on the gundeck, and 10 sakers on the quarterdeck. In the Second Anglo-Dutch War she took part in the Battle of Lowestoft in June 1665. She was in the Caribbean in 1667 under Captain Arthur Laugharne when she was attacked and sunk on 24 March off Saint Kitts by the French Armes d'Angleterre (originally the English Coventry). ^[2]

Citations

1. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714, p.154.
2. David Hepper, British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail 1649-1860, Seaforth Publishing, England, 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.