HMS Bombay Castle

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Berwick BombayCastle Powerful Defiance.jpg
Bombay Castle
History
Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg Great Britain
NameBombay
Namesake Bombay Castle
Ordered14 July 1779
BuilderPerry, Blackwall Yard
Laid downJune 1780
Launched14 June 1782
RenamedHMS Bombay Castle (17 February 1780)
FateWrecked, 1796
General characteristics [1]
Class & type Elizabeth-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1628, [2] or 162819⁄94 bm
Length168 ft 6 in (51.4 m) (gundeck); 138 ft 3+1⁄8 in (42.1 m)
Beam47 ft 1 in (14.4 m)
Depth of hold19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Armament
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns
HMS Bombay Castle, in two positions, in the Channel off Dover, by Thomas Whitcombe H.M.S. Bombay Castle, in two positions, in the Channel off Dover 2014 CSK 05786 0026.jpg
HMS Bombay Castle, in two positions, in the Channel off Dover, by Thomas Whitcombe

HMS Bombay Castle was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 June 1782 at Blackwall Yard. She grounded on 21 December 1796 in the shoals of the Tagus River's mouth.

Contents

Origins

The British East India Company (EIC) funded the construction of Bombay Castle as a contribution to the war effort. [1] [2] Similarly, the EIC also paid for the construction of HMS Carnatic and HMS Ganges.

Bombay Castle was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands. [3]

Loss

The wreck at the mouth of the Tagus, Lisbon on 21 December 1796, with the Bugio Lighthouse seen beyond, Thomas Buttersworth Buttersworth - The wreck of H.M.S. Bombay Castle at the mouth of the Tagus, Lisbon on the 21st December 1796, with the Bugio lighthouse seen beyond.jpg
The wreck at the mouth of the Tagus, Lisbon on 21 December 1796, with the Bugio Lighthouse seen beyond, Thomas Buttersworth

Bombay Castle was under the command of Captain Thomas Sotheby when she entered the Tagus, having taken a pilot on board. In attempting to avoid the storeship Camel, which had grounded ahead of Bombay Castle, Bombay Castle too grounded. During the subsequent week, attempts were made to float her off after boats had removed her guns and stores, but without success. The navy abandoned her as a wreck on 27 December 1798. [4]

The frigate HMS Minerve heading for the open sea in 1797, the wreckage of the Bombay Castle still clearly visible alongside the lighthouse on the left, Thomas Buttersworth Thomas Buttersworth - The frigate H.M.S. Minerve heading for the open sea.jpg
The frigate HMS Minerve heading for the open sea in 1797, the wreckage of the Bombay Castle still clearly visible alongside the lighthouse on the left, Thomas Buttersworth

Citations

  1. 1 2 Winfield (2008), pp. 55–56.
  2. 1 2 Hackman (2001), p. 225.
  3. ↑ "No. 15407". The London Gazette . 15 September 1801. p. 1145.
  4. ↑ Hepper (1994), p. 82.

References


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