HMS Bridgewater (1698)

Last updated

History
English Red Ensign 1620.svg England
NameHMS Bridgewater
Ordered15 February 1697
Builder Sheerness Dockyard
Launched30 May 1698
Commissioned1699
FateBroken at Deptford in April 1738
General characteristics as built
Class and type32-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen41137⁄94 tons (bm)
Length
  • 110 ft 5 in (33.66 m) gundeck
  • 90 ft 11 in (27.71 m) keel for tonnage
Beam29 ft 2 in (8.89 m)
Depth of hold11 ft 5.5 in (3.49 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement145/110
Armament
  • as built 32 guns
  • 4/4 × demi-culverins (LD)
  • 22/20 × 6-pdr guns (UD)
  • 6/4 × 4-pdr guns (QD)

HMS Bridgewater was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Sheerness Dockyard in 1697/98.

Contents

She was the second vessel to bear the name Bridgewater since it was used for a 58-gun ship built at Deptford in 1654, renamed Anne in May 1660 and blown up at Sheerness on 2 December 1673. [1]

Construction and specifications

She was ordered on 15 February 1697 to be built at Sheerness Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Robert Shortiss. She was launched on 30 May 1698. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 110 feet 5 inches (33.66 metres) with a keel of 90 feet 11 inches (27.71 metres) for tonnage calculation with a breadth of 29 feet 2 inches (8.89 metres) and a depth of hold of 11 feet 5.5 inches (3.49 metres). Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 41137⁄94 tons (burthen). [2]

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverins [3] [Note 1] on the lower deck (LD) with two pair of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery would consist of between twenty and twenty-two 6-pounder guns [4] [Note 2] with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four 4-pounder guns [5] [Note 3] on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side. [6]

Commissioned Service 1699-1738

HMS Bridgewater was commissioned in 1699 under the command of Captain Thomas Dilkes for service in Irish Waters. In 1702 she was under Captain Richard Griffith followed by Captain Thomas Lawrence in October 1704. She remained in Irish waters. She was in action against two privateers off Kinsale, Ireland on 16 May 1705. Captain Walter Pigot was in command in 1707 still in Irish Waters, In 1711 she escorted a Russian convoy. She underwent a large repair at Chatham in 1712. Captain John Fletcher was in command in 1715 for service in the English Channel. She sailed to the Mediterranean and Sale, Morocco in 1717. [2]

She was repaired at Woolwich at a cost of £2,251.10.8.5d [Note 4] between February and June 1718 then was placed in Ordinary. She was converted by Admiralty Order (AO) March 1727 to a 8-gun fireship with a crew of 55 personnel at Woolwich Dockyard in March/April 1727. She was recommissioned in 1727 under Captain John Temple for service with Sir Charles Wager's Fleet in the Baltic. [7] She was fitted at Sheerness for £854.6.0d [Note 5] in June/July 1732. She was fitted at Sheerness for £415.14.1d [Note 6] in March/April 1734. She was commissioned un Commander Deorge Peacock (until 1737) for service with Sir John Norris's Fleet. She was repaired at Sheerness for £272.10.7d [Note 7] in December 1736 then assigned as guard ship at Sheerness. [2]

Disposition

She was broken at Deptford Dockyard in April 1738. [2]

Notes

  1. ↑ A demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge
  2. ↑ A 6-pounder was a Dutch gun used to replace the saker
  3. ↑ A minion renamed the 4-pounder was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge.
  4. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £445,100 in today's money
  5. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £185,300 in today's money
  6. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £84,700 in today's money
  7. ↑ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £53,700 in today's money

Citations

  1. ↑ Colledge (2020)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme, Bridgewater
  3. ↑ Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, culverins, page 101
  4. ↑ Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, The 6-pounder, page 102
  5. ↑ Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion or 4-pounder, page 103
  6. ↑ Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme
  7. ↑ Clowes (1898), Chapter XXVII, page 43

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 Betty was purchased on 24 April 1695. She was previously a privateer at Bristol in British service. After commissioning she went to the West Indies on trade protection duties. She was captured by the French while returning in 1695, but was retaken in 1696 by the British. She was again commissioned in British service and served in the Mediterranean, Guinea and did surveying work off Ireland. She was sold in 1702.

HMS Milford was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by William Hubbard of Ipswich in 1694/95.

HMS Shoreham was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built under contract at Shoreham in 1693/94. During the War of the English Succession she was involved in the unsuccessful operation at Camaret Bay. At the end of the war she helped take half a French convoy off Ireland. She then deployed to North America and the West Indies. She was rebuilt as a 20-gun sixth rate to the 1719 Establishment in 1719/21. She served in the Baltic as a bomb vessel then reverted to a sixth rate. She participated in operations in the West Indies during the initial years of the War of Austrian Succession before being sold in 1744.

HMS Scarborough was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built at Woolwich Dockyard in 1693/94. Shortly after commissioning she was taken by two French privateers and went under French service. She was recaptured in 1697 and renamed Milford. She spent some time off Africa then the West Indies. She was rebuilt in 1705. She was in the North Sea, the Mediterranean and finally the West Indies where she was wrecked in 1720.

HMS Lyme was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Mr. Flint of Plymouth in 1694/95. She spent her career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters, the Mediterranean and in North America and the West Indies. She was rebuilt to the 1719 Establishment as a sixth rate in 1720/21. Her breaking was completed in January 1739.

HMS Rye was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Sheerness Dockyard in 1694/96.

HMS Scarborough was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by James Parker of Southampton in 1695/96. She served in the trade protection and counter-piracy operations during her service. She was captured by the French, then recaptured by the British and renamed Garland, She was converted to a fireship for the Baltic then the Mediterranean. She was at the Battle of Passero in 1718. She was reduced to a 20-gun sixth rate in 1717. Rebuilt to the 1719 Establishment in 1721, she was finally sold in 1744.

HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Plymouth Dockyard in 1695/96. Shortly after commissioning she was wrecked in Baltimore Bay, Ireland on 30 April 1697.

HMS Lynn was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham in 1695/96. She spent her entire career on trade protection and anti-piracy patrols. Her service was in Home Waters North America, the West Indies and the East Indies. She was sold in 1713.

HMS Fowey was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Mr. Flint of Plymouth in 1695/96. She was employed in trade protection and counter-piracy patrols in Home Waters and North America. She was in on the capture of a 50-gun Frenchman while returning from Virginia. She was taken by the French off the Scilly Islands in August 1704.

HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton) in 1695/96.

HMS Poole was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Joseph Nye & George Moore of East Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1695/96. She spent the first part of her career on trade protection and counter piracy patrols. After 1719 she was converted to a fireship. She was finally sunk as a breakwater at Harwich in July 1737.

HMS Lowestoffe was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Chatham Dockyard in 1696/97. She spent her career on counter piracy patrols and trade Protection duties. She participated in the capture of Port Royal in Nova Scotia. She was rebuilt in 1722/24 as a 20-gun sixth rate. She was sold in July 1744.

HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Portsmouth Dockyard in 1696/97. She was first employed off the Irish coast. She went to Newfoundland in 1702. On her return she was wrecked on the Isle of Wight in December 1705.

HMS Ludlow was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Mrs. Anne Mundy of Woodbridge in 1697/98.

With the ascension of Queen Anne to the throne of England, these would be the first vessels associated to her reign. The vessels would be similar to the previous 1694 programme with one exception. The upper deck battery would be fully enclosed with a deck running from the foc's'le to the quarterdeck. This would protect the gunners and battery during an action with the enemy. In 1702 one vessel was ordered from dockyard. In 1703 two more were ordered from dockyard.

HMS Falcon was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Deptford Dockyard in 1703/04. Her initial assignment was with Sir Cloudesley Shovell's Fleet. She was then assigned to the Mediterranean where she was taken by the French in 1709.

HMS Fowey was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Chatham Dockyard in 1703/05. She spent her career in the Mediterranean and was taken by the French off Cape Gato, Spain in April 1709.

HMS Tartar was a 32-gun fifth rate built by the Woolwich Dockyard in 1702. Her initial commissioning was in time for the War of the Spanish Succession. She partook in the Battle of Velez Malaga in 1704. She spent the rest of her career on counter piracy and trade protection patrols. She was rebuilt as a 20-gun sixth rate in 1733. She was finally broken in 1755.

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.