Chesterfield was an oak-built 44-gun fifth-rate, one of 16 vessels constructed according to the 1741 revisions to the 1719 Establishment which set specific equirements for materials, scantlings, fitting and armament for all new Royal Navy craft.[1][2] The principels underpinning the 1719 Establishment were drawn from Admiralty observation and practice from the mid-seventeenth century, with very minor modifications in the subsequent revisions.[2] For Chesterfield these revisions included minor increases in length, beam and depth of hold, and the addition of four 6-pounder guns at the rear of the quarterdeck.[3][4] These adjustments aside, Chesterfield's design was largely unchanged from that of fifth-rate Royal Navy ships from the previous century.[2] Notably, no allowance was made for the use of longer, sleeker hulls such as were becoming common in equivalent French vessels by the 1740s.[5]
Plans to build Chesterfield were made in the middle years of the War of Jenkins' Ear, when Britain's Royal Dockyards were fully engaged in building and fitting-out ships of the line. Consequently, and despite some Navy Board misgivings, contracts for Chesterfield and other mid-sized vessels were issued to private shipyards, with an emphasis on rapid completion.[6]Chesterfield's contract was signed on 23 May 1744 with shipwright John Quallett of Rotherhithe in South London, with work to be finished within one year for a 44-gun vessel measuring approximately 705tons burthen.[4] Subject to satisfactory completion, Quallett would receive a fixed fee of £7,554 for hull, masts and yards, paid through periodic imprests drawn against the Navy Board.[7][8] In practice neither the timeline nor the budget were met. Chesterfield's keel was laid down on 2 June 1744 but building works lasted seventeen months with the ship not ready for launch until 31 October 1745. The final cost was £7,931, with an additional £5,097 set aside for fitting out.[4]
The vessel was named after Chesterfield, a market town in Derbyshire, England. This continued a Board of Admiralty tradition dating to 1644, of naming ships for geographic features. Overall nine of the 16 vessels in the 1741 Establishment were named after well-known regions, castles or towns.[9][10][a]
As built, Chesterfield was 127ft 5in (38.8m) long with a 102ft 8in (31.3m) keel, a beam of 36ft 3.5in (11.062m), and a hold depth of 15ft 5in (4.7m). At 71938⁄94 tons burthen, she was the second largest vessel in the 1741 Establshment after HMSLudlow Castle, and a full fourteen tons over the stipulated contract size.[9] Her armament comprised 20 nine-pounder cannons on her upper deck, and 20 eighteen-pounder cannons on the enclosed lower deck close to the waterline. These broadside weapons were supported by four six-pounder guns at the rear of the quarterdeck behind the wheel.[4] The Admiralty-designated complement was 280 comprising four commissioned officers– a captain and three lieutenants– overseeing 59 warrant and petty officers, 133 naval ratings, 45 Marines and 39 servants and other ranks.[11][b] Among these other ranks were six positions reserved for widow's men: fictitious crew members whose pay was retained by the captain to be reallocated to the families of sailors who died at sea.[11]
Strategic rationale
The concept of 40 and 44-gun fifth rate ships such as Chesterfield had been developed in the seventeenth century when the Royal Navy was principally deployed in short-range operations in the English Channel and adjacent waters.[12]Chesterfield was one of the last to be constructed before Admiral Anson's 1751 reforms introduced a new class of 74-gun vessels as the minimum size for a ship of the line and promoted development of small fast frigates of around 32 guns to chase the enemy close to shore.[13][14] Under these reforms a 44-gun fifth-rate such as Chesterfield became an anachronism: too small to be effective in the line of battle but too slow to pursue opposing frigates or privateers.[13] Instead, the impetus for Chesterfield's construction was Admiralty's realisation that too few middle-sized vessels were available to protect merchant convoys and conduct routine patrols in the Channel, the Mediterranean and off the coast of Africa. Many existing fifth-rate vessels were also derelict: of the nineteen listed as being in service in 1739 only seven were seaworthy with another five salvageable after major repairs.[15] The dearth of convoy escorts was so severe that in 1741 Admiral Thomas Mathews complained that he was using 70-gun ships of the line simply to guard Mediterranean trade.[16] Vessels such as Chesterfield were urgently needed to alleviate this shortfall and allow larger vessels to resume other roles.[17]
However her antiquated design left Chesterfield at a disadvantage even for escort and patrol. The 44-gun fifth-rates such as Chesterfield were top-heavy with a tendency to roll in bad weather.[5] In addition the lower deck gunports were too clsoe to the waterline and could not be opened in rough seas for fear of flooding the ship.[13][5] In approving the designs, Admiralty argued that a slightly wider hull gave greater room for crews to work any accessible guns while the enclosed upper deck reduced exposure to enemy small arms fire in close combat.[5][18] These were minor advantages at best. Overall, naval historian John Charnock suggests that the vessels of Chesterfield's group were built more from a sense of tradition than from coherent strategic thinking, and indeed were "the worst vessels which, at that time, composed any part of the British navy."[14] Only two new 44-gun fifth rates were constructed after 1750. By 1771 more than 80 per cent of the Navy's 44-gun fleet had been put out of service, replaced by vessels of other designs.[19]
Naval service
English Channel
Chesterfield was launched at Rotherhithe on 31 October 1745 and sailed to Deptford Dockyard for fitting-out and to take on armament and crew. She was formally commissioned in November, entering Royal Navy service during the latter stages of the War of the Austrian Succession against France and Spain. Command was assigned to Captain William Gordon, previously of Chesterfield's sister ship HMSLooe. There were delays in mustering sufficient crew, and Chesterfield was not finally ready to put to sea until January 1746. She was then assigned to the Navy's Western Squadron under Admiral William Martin, tasked with protecting shipping in the English Channel and supporting a blockade of France's Atlantic ports.[4][20] In this capacity she secured her first victory at sea with the capture of a 10-gun Spanish privateer San Elmo in April 1747.[4][21] The captured vessel was sailed to the Portugese port of Madeira to be sold as a prize with the proceeds divided between the Navy and Chesterfield's crew.[21]
West Africa
European forts and settlements in West Africa during Chesterfield's 1748 cruise from Gambia (top left) to Cape Coast Castle (centre and inset). By Richard William Seale (–1785)
In November 1747 command of Chesterfield passed to Captain O'Brien Dudley and the vessel was sent to patrol the coats of West Africa to survey and report upon the quality of British forts and slaving establishments.[4][22] The orders followed an agreement between Admiralty which provided a vessel for the patrol, and the Royal African Company which had responsibility for maintaining the forts.[23] In general Britain's West African forts were poorly armed and maintained, with small garrisons and little capacity for defence. Historian Joshua Newton describes them as "feeble and frequently dilapidated ... little more than guarded warehouses" at risk from attack from European or African opponents.[23] For this reason the British settlements viewed the annual presence of a Royal Navy vessel as a welcome reminder of national military strength.[23] The annual patrol was also generally cosidered an agreeable assignment for the Royal Navy crew, as there was little risk of encountering a well-armed enemy ship and many opportunities for small-scale trade in gold and souvenirs.[23][c]
Chesterfield sailed for her African patrol in March 1748, cruising the coast of Gambia and Sierra Leone and then turning east along the Bight of Benin to Cape Coast Castle, the Royal African Company's headquarters in Ghana.[22] As seaborne combat was unlikely her crew was reduced from 250 to 120, under the command of Dudley and his first lieutenant Samuel Couchman.[22][23] After an uneventful seven-month cruise along the African coast Chesterfield reached Cape Coast Castle on 8 October 1748. On 10 October Captain Dudley went ashore in the longboat accompanied by most of his officers as well as the Master's mate Thomas Gilliam and the boatswain Roger Gastril. Lieutenant Couchman was the sole officer left on board, with orders to keep Chesterfield at anchor until the captain's return.[24][22]
Mutiny
Cape Coast Castle, site of a 1748 mutiny by Chesterfield's crew. From a 1747 work by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin.
Over the next few days Lieutenant Couchman became increasingly drunk and began approaching crew members with the idea of seizing the ship and sailing to the East Indies to start a colony.[24][25] His plan was eventually supported by Marines lieutenant John Morgan, carpenter Thomas Knight, carpenter's mate John Place and around 30 ordinary seamen.[25] On 15 October the boatswain and mate returned from shore with orders from Dudley to make the ship ready to set sail. Instead they were confronted by a mob led by Couchman, waving a sword and shouting "Here I am, God damn me, I will stand by you while I have a drop of blood in my body!"[25] The longboat crew were seized and dragged below decks while the boatswain and mate were asked if they would join the mutiny. Both refused and were also imprisoned.[22] The ship was then hurriedly put out to sea, with Couchman threatening to cut the anchor cables if they could not be drawn in swiftly enough for the ship to make her escape. Chesterfield then set sail westward, as Couchman had soured on the idea of an East Indies colony and was now considering piracy in the West Indies to replenish the ship's supplies.[22]
On the following day the boatswain and mate were brought back to Couchman's cabin and offered alcohol, then dismissed and apparently allowed to freely wander the ship. The boatswain immediately went to the ship's gunner who furnished him with pistols. As darkness fell the boatswain, mate and gunner approached around 20 crew members on the quarterdeck and, reminding them of the risks of piracy, secured their support for retaking the ship.[25] This party then stormed Couchman's cabin and took all the leading mutineers prisoner. Couchman, Morgan, Knight and Place were placed in chains along with 18 other mutineers.[25][22]
Thus retaken, Chesterfield was sailed to the British port of Bridgetown, Barbados, arriving on 2 December 1748. There she was surrendered to Admiral Henry Osborn commanding the Royal Navy's Leeward Islands Station. The senior mutineers were taken off Chesterfield and imprisoned on the 24-gun sloop Richmond, where Couchman unsucessfully tried to stir up another mutiny.[22] On 13 February 1749 Admiralty appointed Captain James Campbell to command Chesterfield and bring her to England. Before she sailed a merchant ship arrived at Bridgetown carrying Captain Dudley and the other officers who had been stranded in Ghana since the previous year. They were also re-embarked aboard Chesterfield and the ship set sail in company with Richmond, reaching Portsmouth on 14 June.[22]
"What I have done, I cannot now go from. I was forced into it by the ship's company."
First Lieutenant Samuel Couchman justifying his decision to mutiny. From testimony at his court martial, July 1749.[25]
Chesterfield's captain and mutineers were court-martialled at Portsmouth in early July 1749. The trial was conducted aboard HMSInvincible under supervision from Admiral Edward Hawke. Captain Dudley was tried for neglect of duty; he was found not guilty but was never given another command.[4][25][22] Cuchman, Morgan, Knight, Place and 18 others ere tried for mutiny. Lieutenant Couchman claimed he had been "lunatick" with alcohol for the entire mutiny and blamed the uprising on other members of the crew.[22] Marine lieutenant Morgan, described by Admiral Hawke as "extremely weak and ignorant," denied instigating mutiny but was condemned on hearsay from others in the crew.[22] The carpenter Thomas Knight and most of the ordinary seamen claimed they had merely followed Couchman's orders. Only the carpenter's mate John Place admitted to mutiny, and threw himself on the mercy of the court.[22]
At the conclusion of the court martial Couchman and Morgan were sentenced to be shot, with Knight, Place and three other seamen ordered to be hanged.[26] Four more seamen were sentenced to life imprisonment with penal transportation to Gibraltar.[26] The remaining accused crew members were acquitted and allowed to return to Navy service.[25][22] After the senences were issued, Place wrote to Couchman, forgiving him for the mutiny and urging him to "secure a blessed Eternity ... with God's assistance, and to die like a man."[25] Couchman's written reply was brief: "Mr Place, you will die like a villain." The mutineers were executed in late July 1749.[26] For his part in retakig Chesterfield the boatswain Roger Gastril was released from sea service and appointed as a Master Attendant at Woolwich Dockyard.[25]
Later service
The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle brought an end to the war between Britain, Spain and France, and Chesterfield was subsequently declared surplus to the Navy's needs. She was in poor condition; after two years anchored at Portsmouth Dockyard she underwent repairs worth £2,249 or nearly one-third of her original construction cost. Work was completed in November 1751 but Chesterfield remained out of service at Portsmouth for another four years.[4]
She was recommissioned in July 1755 under Captain William Lloyd for Mediterranean service agaisnt France in the Seven Years' War.
In mid-June 1760 she was once again in West Africa when she narrowly avoided being seized by pirates near Cape Palmas, now in Liberia. Chesterfield had been sailing close to the Cape when she was surrounded by a fleet of canoes, the occupants of which swarmed up her sides to engage in combat with her crew. The attackers were eventually driven off with around 60 dead. A further 18 were captured, to be later sold as slaves at Cape Coast Castle.[27]
After several years of convoy duty she was wrecked in the Old Bahama Channel, near Cuba, on 24 July 1762.[4]
↑ The 39 servants and other ranks provided for in the ship's complement consisted of 25 personal servants and clerical staff, six assistant carpenters, an assistant sailmaker, a steward's mate and six widow's men. Unlike naval ratings, servants and other ranks took no part in the sailing or handling of the ship.[11]
↑ In the 1740s and 1750s the only European naval establishment in West Africa was at the French settlement of Goree in Senegal, which peridiocally hosted a single 74-gun warship and 2–3 smaller vessels. Royal Navy patrols such as that conducted by Chesterfield in 1748 avoided interaction with the French by sailing offshore until past the Senegalese coast then turning toward land at the Gambia and then proceeding south and west toward Ghana. The return journey was south and then west for the British West Indies.[23]
↑ Manning, T. Davys (1957). "Ship Names". The Mariner's Mirror. 43 (2). Portsmouth, United Kingdom: Society for Nautical Research: 93–96. doi:10.1080/00253359.1957.10658334.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Newton, Joshua D. (2013). "Slavery, Sea Power and the State: The Royal Navy and the British West African Settlements, 1748–1756". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 41 (2). Milton Park, United Kingdom: Taylor and Francis: 171–193. doi:10.1080/03086534.2013.779098.
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Gardiner, Robert (1992). The First Frigates: Nine Pounder and Twelve Pounder Frigates, 1748–1815. London, United Kingdom: Connway Maritime Press. ISBN9780851776019.
Lambert, Andrew (2000). War at Sea in the Age of Sail. London, United Kingdom: Cassell and Company. ISBN9780304352463.
Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line, Volume II: Design, Construction and Fitting. London, United Kingdom: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0851772870.
Rodger, N. A. M. (1986). The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0870219871.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN9781844157006.
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