| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Cumberland |
| Acquired | 29 June 1739 |
| Renamed | Acquired as Alex Roberts |
| Fate | Broken up in March 1742 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Fireship |
| Tons burthen | 181 13⁄94 bm |
| Length | |
| Beam | 23 ft 3.5 in (7.099 m) |
| Depth of hold | 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m) |
| Complement | 45 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Cumberland was an 8-gun fire ship, previously the civilian vessel Alex Roberts. She was purchased in 1739 and was broken up by 1742 after service in the War of the Austrian Succession. [1]
She was purchased from Alexander Roberts on 29 June 1739 for £782.2.4½d. She underwent fitting out at Deptford Dockyard for a further £2,070.7.5d between July and August 1739. Commissioned in July that year, she served under Commander Robert Maynard for operations in the Caribbean during the War of Jenkins' Ear. Cumberland was present at Admiral Edward Vernon's attack on the port and defences at Chagres on 23 March 1740, and was later at the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in March and April 1741. [2]
In 1741 she came under Commander Thomas Brodrick, at Jamaica. Cumberland was refitted at Woolwich Dockyard between September 1741 and January 1742, and then surveyed in February 1742. She was then broken up at Sheerness in late March 1742. [2]
HMS Duke was an 8-gun fireship of the Royal Navy. She was acquired for service in 1739, having previously been a merchant vessel, and served in the War of Jenkins' Ear and the War of the Austrian Succession, being expended in a naval operation in 1742.
HMS Suffolk was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by contract of 20 February 1678 by Sir Henry Johnson at Blackwall. She participated in the War of the English Succession 1689 - 1697, in the Battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. She was rebuilt in 1699. She was actively involved in the War of Spanish Succession 1702 - 1713. Her later career was as guard ship duties, deployments to the Baltic Sea and the West Indies. She was finally broken in 1765 after lying in Ordinary for almost twenty years.
HMS Canterbury was a 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 18 December 1693.
HMS Barfleur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard on 10 August 1697.
HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard to the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 19 July 1722. Burford was notably the early posting of both John Forbes and John Byng, both of whom rose to become Admirals.
The 1719 Establishment was a set of mandatory requirements governing the construction of all Royal Navy warships capable of carrying more than 20 naval long guns. It was designed to bring economies of scale through uniform vessel design, and ensure a degree of certainty about vessel capability once at sea, and was applied to all vessels from the first-rate to the fifth-rate. Once in effect, it superseded the 1706 Establishment, which had specified major dimensions for ships of the second-rate, third-rate and fourth-rate only.
HMS Princess was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had served for ten years as the Princesa for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession.
The action of 8 April 1740 was a battle between the Spanish third rate Princesa under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, and a squadron consisting of three British 70-gun third rates; HMS Kent, HMS Lenox and HMS Orford, under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of Lenox. The Spanish ship was chased down and captured by the three British ships, after which she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy.
HMS Pearl was a 40-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. It was used during the War of Jenkins' Ear, and was one of the ships dispatched under Commodore George Anson for his raids on Spanish possessions in the Pacific.
HMS Drake was an 8-gun snow-rigged sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1741 as the first of three Drake class sloops constructed for convoy duty during the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear from 1739 to 1742. After limited service off the Channel Islands, she was sailed to Gibraltar where she was wrecked in 1742 while under the temporary command of her first lieutenant.
HMS Aldborough was a 24-gun sixth-rate ship of the Royal Navy, purchased in 1706 and in service in Mediterranean and English waters until 1727 when she was rebuilt as a 374 ton sixth rate in accordance with the 1719 Establishment for Sixth Rates. After the rebuild she spent her career in the West Indies, Home Waters and the Mediterranean. She was finally broken at Deptford on 31 March 1742.
HMS Hawk was an eight-gun snow-rigged sloop of the Royal Navy, the second of three Drake class sloops constructed during the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear. Launched in 1741, her principal service was as convoy escort and patrol in the Irish Sea. She was broken up at Deptford Dockyard in 1747.
HMS Swift was an 8-gun snow-rigged sloop of the Royal Navy, the last of three Drake class sloops constructed during the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear. Launched in 1741, her principal service was as convoy escort and patrol off North Carolina and in the North Sea. She was lost at sea on 31 October 1756.
HMS Peregrine Galley was a 20-gun sixth-rate ship of the Royal Navy, built in 1699-1700 at Sheerness Dockyard by Master Shipwright William Lee to a design by Rear-Admiral the Marquis of Carmarthen. She was generally employed as a Royal yacht and in 1716 she was officially renamed HMS Carolina and converted to a permanent Royal yacht. In May 1733 she was rebuilt by Richard Storey at Deptford Dockyard as the Royal yacht and again renamed, this time as Royal Caroline. In 1739 she ceased to be the Royal yacht and resumed her classification as a Sixth Rate. In 1749 a new Royal Caroline was built to replace her. She reverted to being a naval sloop under the name HMS Peregrine and served until her loss on or about 28 December 1761.
HMS Deal Castle was a 24-gun sixth-rate ship of the Royal Navy, purchased in 1706 and in service in West Indies, North America and English waters until 1727 when she was rebuilt at Sheerness. She commissioned after her rebuild in May 1727 and served in Home waters, North America and the West Indies. She was finally broken at Deptford in August 1746.
HMS Squirrel was designed by Richard Stacey, Master Shipwright of Woolwich. Her design was based on the standardize 20-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she was assigned to Home Waters then the Mediterranean. She took a privateer in 1710. She was dismantled at Deptford with her timbers sent to Woolwich Dockyard for rebuilding as a 374-ton (bm). She was finally broken in 1749.
HMS Port Mahon was a member of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career in home waters and North America on trade protection duties. She was broken up at Plymouth in May 1740.
HMS Success was a member of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career in Home waters, the West Indies and the North America on trade protection duties. She was sold in 1743.
HMS Sheerness was a fifth rate built under the 1689 programme built at Sheerness Dockyard. Her guns were listed under old terms for guns as demi-culverines, sakers and minions. After commissioning she spent her career in Home Waters, North America, Mediterranean and the West Indies. She was reduced to a 20-gun sixth rate in 1717 then rebuilt as a Modified 1719 Establishment sixth rate in 1731. She was sold in 1744.
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.