HMS Child's Play (1706)

History
France
Name	Le Jeux
Launched	November 1689
Commissioned	January 1690
Captured	By Royal Navy, 7 June 1706
History
England
Name	HMS Child's Play
Acquired	6 July 1706
Commissioned	10 July 1706
Fate	Wrecked in hurricane 30 August 1707
General characteristics
Type	24-gun Sixth Rate
Tons burthen	373+2⁄94 bm
Length	103 ft 0 in (31.4 m) gundeck 80 ft 7 in (24.6 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	29 ft 6 in (9.0 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold	10 ft 7 in (3.2 m)
Armament	20 × 6-pdr guns on wooden trucks (UD) 4 × 3-pdr guns on wooden trucks (QD)

HMS Child's Play was a 24-gun French privateer, Le Jeux of St Malo taken by HMS Tartar on 7 June 1706. She was purchased on 6 July 1706. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 10 July 1706 for service in the West Indies. She was wrecked in a hurricane in 1707. ^[1]

Child's Play was the only named vessel in the Royal Navy. ^[2]

Specifications

She was captured on 7 June 1706 and purchased on 6 July 1706. Her gundeck was 103 feet 0 inches (31.4 metres) with her keel for tonnage calculation of 80 feet 7 inches (24.6 metres). Her breadth for tonnage was 29 feet 6 inches (9.0 metres) with the depth of hold of 10 ft 7 in (3.2 m). Her tonnage calculation was 373+2⁄94 tons. Her armament was twenty-six 6-pounders on the upper deck with and four 3-pounders on the quarterdeck all on wooden trucks. ^[3]

Commissioned service

She was commissioned on 10 July 1706 under the command of Captain George Doyley, RN for service in the West Indies. Captain Doyley drowned when the ship was lost. ^[4]

Loss

She was wrecked in a hurricane on Palmetto Point, St Kitts on 30 August 1707. ^[5]

Citations

1. Winfield
2. Colledge
3. Winfield
4. Winfield
5. Winfield

References

• Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB ISBN   9781783469246, Chapter 6, The Sixth Rates, Vessels acquired from 18 December 1688, Sixth Rates of 20 guns and up to 26 guns, Ex-French Prizes (1704–09), Child's Play
• Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, e ISBN   978-1-5267-9328-7 (EPUB), Section S (Childs Play)