English ship Oxford (1656)

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

History
England [1]
Name	Oxford
Namesake	Battle of Oxford, 1646
Operator	Navy of the Commonwealth of England   Royal Navy (from 1660)
Ordered	28 December 1654
Builder	Manley Callis, Deptford Dockyard
Launched	November 1656
Commissioned	1656
Fate	Blown up by accident in 1669
General characteristics as built 1656
Type	20-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen	22056⁄94 bm
Length	72 ft 0 in (21.9 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	24 ft 0 in (7.3 m) for tonnage
Draught	11 ft (3.4 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 0 in (3.0 m)
Sail plan	ship-rigged
Complement	100 in 1660, 110 in 1666
Armament	As built 1656 16 x demi-culverins (UD) 6 x sakers (QD)

Oxford was a fifth-rate warship of the Commonwealth of England's naval forces, one of six such ships ordered on 28 December 1654, all six built in the state dockyards (the others were Pembroke, Dartmouth, Norwich, Wakefield, and Cheriton). She was built by Master Shipwright Manley Callis at Deptford Dockyard, and was launched in November 1656 (by Order of 6 November) as a 22-gun Fifth rate. She was named Oxford to commemorate the Roundhead victory at the capture of that city in 1646.

Her length was recorded as 72 feet 0 inches (21.9 metres) on the keel for tonnage calculation. The breadth was 24 feet 0 inches (7.3 metres) with a depth in hold of 10 ft 0 in (3.0 m). The tonnage was thus calculated at 22056⁄94 bm tons. ^[1]

She was originally armed with 22 guns, probably comprising 16 demi-culverins on the single gundeck and 6 sakers on the quarterdeck. At the Restoration in 1660 she was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Oxford. By 1666 she was officially rated at 24 guns (16 demi-culverins and 8 sakers), but actually carried 34 guns, comprising 21 demi-culverins, 2 sakers, 5 minions and 6 3-pounders. The Oxford took part during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665. ^[1]

At the start of 1669 the Oxford, leased to the Governor of Jamaica for a privateering raid to be led by pirate captain Henry Morgan, was in a bay off the Île-à-Vache (off western Hispaniola) when on 2 January she was destroyed in an explosion of unknown cause in which over 200 men died, with only 10 survivors (the latter including Henry Morgan). ^[2]

Citations

1. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714, p.158.
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.