HMS Blandford (1720)

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History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Blandford
Ordered4 July 1719
Builder Royal Dockyard, Deptford
Cost£3,041.11.3d plus £480.0.83/4 for fitting
Launched13 February 1720
Completed4 March 1720
Commissioned1720
FateSold at Deptford 28 October 1742
General characteristics
Type20-gun Sixth Rate
Tons burthen375+18⁄94 bm
Length
  • 106 ft 0 in (32.3 m) gundeck
  • 87 ft 3 in (26.6 m) keel for tonnage
Beam28 ft 5.5 in (8.7 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold9 ft 2 in (2.8 m)
Armament20 × 6-pdr 19 cwt guns on wooden trucks (UD)

HMS Blandford was a member of the 1719 Establishment Group of 20-gun sixth rates. [1] After commissioning she spent her career in Home Waters, the Baltic, North America and the Mediterranean on trade protection duties. After more than 20 years service in the Royal Navy, she was sold at Deptford in October 1742. [2] New owner, Bristol based James Pearce, refitted the vessel and entered her into the transatlantic slave trade. [3]

Contents

Blandford was the second named vessel since it was used for a 24-gun sixth rate launched at Woolwich on 29 October 1711 and lost with all hands in the Bay of Biscay on 23 March 1719. [4]

Construction

She was ordered on 4 July 1719 from Deptford Dockyard to be built under the guidance of Richard Stacey, Master Shipwright of Deptford. She was launched on 13 February 1720. She was completed for sea on 4 March 1720 at a cost of 3,041.11.3d [Note 1] plus 480.0.83/4 [Note 2] for fitting. [5]

Commissioned service

In the Royal Navy

She was commissioned in 1720 under the command of Captain William Martin, RN for service in the Baltic then to Carolina from 1721 to 24. She under the command of Captain George Protheroe, RN in 1727 for service in the Mediterranean in 1728 then she moved to New England in 1730/31. She returned home and paid off in July 1732. She was underwent a great repair at Sheerness from September 1732 to February 1733 at a cost of £1,872.1.9d. [Note 3] She was under the command of Captain George Burrish, RN for service in the North Sea in May 1732, She went to the Portuguese coast in 1734, then back to the English Channel in 1735 on to Georgia in 1738 and Jamaica 1739–40. She sailed for home with dispatches on 1 September 1740. She was surveyed in December 1740. [6]

Into the Atlantic slave trade

In 1742, Bristol based James Pearce purchased the vessel. After refitted her, he entered her into the Atlantic slave trade. Under Captain John Brackenridge, HMS Blandford would have taken part in a triangular trade. Of the 468 slaves embarked during Blandford’s first and only known slavery voyage, only around 400 survived to be landed ashore in Kingston, colony of Jamaica. [7] Upon Blandford’s return to England in June 1745, she was put up for sale a second time. The purchaser and her future unfolded is not known. [8]

Disposition

HMS Blandford was lost with all hands during a storm in the Bay of Biscay on 23 March 1719. [9]

Homage

The town of Blandford, Massachusetts, in the USA, is named after her. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £574,000 in today's money.
  2. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £90,600 in today's money.
  3. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £392,700 in today's money.

Citations

  1. ↑ Winfield 2007
  2. ↑ Winfield 2007
  3. ↑ "HMS Blandford". theblandfordexpress.com. 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 13 January 2025.
  4. ↑ Colledge
  5. ↑ Winfield 2007
  6. ↑ Winfield 2007
  7. ↑ "HMS Blandford". theblandfordexpress.com. 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 13 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "HMS Blandford". theblandfordexpress.com. 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 13 January 2025.
  9. ↑ Winfield 2007
  10. ↑ "HMS Blandford". theblandfordexpress.com. 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 13 January 2025.

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References

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