HMS Centurion (1691)

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Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg Great Britain
NameHMS Centurion
Ordered20 March 1690
BuilderFisher Harding, Deptford Dockyard
Launched6 March 1691
FateBroken up, 1728
General characteristics [1]
Class and type50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen614 35/94 bm
Length125 ft 8.5 in (38.3 m) (gundeck) 105 ft (32.0 m) (keel
Beam33 ft 2 in (10.1 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 5 in (4.1 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Armament50 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Centurion was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1691. She was ordered on 20 March 1690 to be built at Deptford Dockyard by Master Shipwright Fisher Harding - on thye same day as her stable-mate Chester (to be built at Woolwich Dockyard), and six days after the first ship of this batch (the Chatham to be built at Chatham Dockyard) - to a similar design to the prototype of this "123-ft" type - the Sedgemoor of 1687. The specified dimensions in the ordxer were for a length of 125 ft by 32ft 6in by 13ft 4in, but on completion she measured about 8 inches longer and in breadth. [1] She was launched on 6 March 1691 (15 days before the Chester and 45 days before the Chatham).

The Centurion took part in the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692 under the command of Captain Francis Wyvell, and at the Battle of Velez-Malaga on 13 August 1704 under Captain John Herne. She served until 1728, and was broken up at Plymouth in February 1729. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714, p.131.

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