HMS Bideford (1695)

Last updated

History
English Red Ensign 1620.svg England
NameHMS Bideford
Ordered11 May 1694
BuilderNicholas Barret, Harwich
Launched25 October 1695
Commissioned19 October 1695
FateWrecked 12 November 1699
General characteristics
Type20-gun sixth rate
Tons burthen255+73⁄94 bm
Length
  • 93 ft 1 in (28.4 m) gundeck
  • 78 ft 6 in (23.9 m) keel for tonnage
Beam24 ft 9 in (7.5 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold10 ft 9 in (3.3 m)
Armament
  • initially as ordered
  • 20 x sakers on wooden trucks (UD)
  • 4 x 3-pdr on wooden trucks (QD)
  • 1703 establishment
  • 20 x 6-pdrs on wooden trucks (UD)
  • 4 x 4-pdr on wooden trucks (QD)

HMS Bideford was a member of the standardized 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th century. After commissioning she spent her short career in the West Indies, mainly employed as a trade protection vessel. She was wrecked in 1699. [1]

Contents

Bideford (spelt Biddeford or Bideford) was the first named vessel in the Royal Navy. [2] [Note 1]

Construction

She was ordered in the Second Batch of eight ships to be built under contract by Nicholas Barret of Harwich. She was launched on 25 October 1695. [1]

Commissioned service

She was commissioned on 19 October 1695 under the command of Captain Thomas Thatcher, RN for service in the West Indies. Thatcher died on 20 October 1697. Captain Samuel Martin, RN took command on the 18th. In 1699 Captain Henry Searle was in command until he drowned in her wreck on 12 November 1699. [1]

Loss

HMS Bideford was wrecked on the Isle of Ash off Hispaniola on 12 November 1699. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ref Winfield spells her name as Bideford whereas ref Colledge spells her name as Biddeford.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Winfield
  2. ↑ Colledge

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.

HMS Maidstone was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After commissioning she spent her career between Home Waters and North America with junkets to the West Indies and once to the Mediterranean. Mainly employed as a trade protection vessel. She was sold in 1714.

HMS Jersey was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After commissioning she spent most of her career in the West Indies. She was wrecked there in October 1707.

HMS Newport was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. She spent her short career sailing between New England and Home Waters. She was captured by French Warships in 1696.

HMS Queenborough was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. The bulk of her career was spent in Home Waters. During her time in the English Channel she took three French privateers. She went to the Leeward Islands where two of her Captains died before returning home. She was sold in 1719.

HMS Swan was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th century. After commissioning she went to the West Indies, then returned for service in the Irish Sea and English Channel. She then returned to the West Indies where she was lost with all hands in 1707.

HMS Solebay was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After commissioning she spent her career mainly in the North Sea with a stint in the Irish sea. Mainly employed as a trade protection vessel. She was wrecked in 1709.

HMS Seahorse was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After commissioning she spent her career in the North Sea, the English Channel, Irish sea, Newfoundland and finally Jamaica. Mainly employed as a trade protection vessel. She was wrecked in 1704.

HMS Penzance was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After commissioning she spent her career in Home Waters with a foray to the Moroccan coast. Mainly employed as a trade protection vessel. She was sold in 1713.

HMS Oxford was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After commissioning she spent her career escorting convoys of merchant ships, participated with the fleet including the Battle Velez-Malaga in 1704. She was sold in 1714.

HMS Lizard was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. She was commissioned for service in the East Indies, then Mediterranean, followed by Home Waters in the Irish SeaShe was sold in 1714.

HMS Seaford was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After she was commissioned she had a very varied career, starting in the Mediterranean then the Irish Sea, then to Newfoundland, the North Sea followed by a great repair then to the Leeward Islands. Her was dismantled in 1722 and rebuilt as a bomb vessel in 1727 than a 20-gun sixth rate in 1728. She served in the West Indies, America and the Mediterranean. She was finally broken in 1740.

HMS Deal Castle was a member of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th Century. After she was commissioned she was in Newfoundland, The West Indies, Irish Sea Jamaica and back to Home Waters. She was captured by the French in 1706.

HMS Seaford was purchased from Richard Herring of Bursledon. Richard Herring had built this vessel on speculation to a similar specification as the Maidstone Group. After she was commissioned she sailed as part of the expedition to recapture Fort York on Hudson Bay. She was also part of Symond's squadron in the West Indies where she was captured and burnt by the French in 1697.

HMS Child's Play was a 24-gun French privateer, Le Jeux of St Malo taken by HMS Tartar on 7 June 1706. She was purchased on 6 July 1706. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 10 July 1706 for service in the West Indies. She was wrecked in a hurricane in 1707.

HMS Hind was a member of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career in Home Waters and the Baltic on trade protection duties. She was lost with all hands in a storm in the Bay of Biscay in March 1719.

HMS Bideford was a member of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career West Indies, Morocco and Portugal on trade protection duties. She was rebuilt at Chatham in 1727. After her rebuild she served in Home Waters, North America and the Mediterranean on trade protection. She foundered off Flamborough Head in 1736.

HMS Lively was a member of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career in Home waters on trade protection duties. She was broken in 1738.

HMS Speedwell was a fireship of the 1689 Programme built under contract. She would be rebuilt and rerated several times from a fireship to a 24-gun Fifth rate then reduced to a 20-gun sixth rate and finally a bomb ketch. She was at the Battle of Barfleur in 1692 and had an attempted mutiny in 1699. After her first rebuild she was employed in the Irish Sea capturing four privateers and recapturing a sloop. She was wrecked on the Dutch coast in 1720.

HMS England was a 42-gun fifth raye purchased in 1693. She served in the Bristol Channel or North Sea. She was sunk by a French squadron in 1695.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.