English ship Pembroke (1655)

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

History
England [1]
Name	Pembroke
Namesake	Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
Operator	Navy of the Commonwealth of England   Royal Navy (from 1660)
Ordered	28 December 1654
Builder	Samuel Raven, Woolwich Dockyard
Launched	September 1655
Commissioned	1655
Fate	Foundered following collision in 1667
General characteristics as built 1655
Type	22-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen	26926⁄94 bm
Length	81 ft 0 in (24.7 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	25 ft 0 in (7.6 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 and 1666, 110 by 1667
Armament	As built 1655 18 x demi-culverins (UD) 4 x sakers (QD)

Pembroke 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 from the state dockyards (the others were Norwich, Dartmouth, Cheriton, Wakefield, and Oxford). She was built by Master Shipwright Samuel Raven at Woolwich Dockyard, and was launched in September 1655 as a 22-gun fifth rate. She was named Pembroke after Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke.

Her length was recorded as 81 feet 0 inches (24.7 metres) on the keel for tonnage calculation. The breadth was 25 feet 0 inches (7.6 metres) with a depth in hold of 11 ft 0 in (3.4 m). The tonnage was thus calculated at 26926⁄94 bm tons. ^[1]

She was originally armed with 22 guns, comprising 18 demi-culverins on the single gundeck and 4 sakers on the quarterdeck. At the Restoration in 1660 she was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Pembroke. By 1665 she actually carried 28 guns, comprising 20 demi-culverins on the gundeck, and 8 sakers on the quarterdeck. The Pembroke took part during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the Battle of Lowestoft and the Battle of Vagen in 1665 and in the attack on Dutch shipping in the Vlie ("Holmes's Bonfire") during 1666. ^[1] On 10 May 1667 she foundered in Tor Bay following a collision with Fairfax. ^[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.