HMS Deptford (1687)

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Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg Great Britain
NameHMS Deptford
Ordered15 September 1682
BuilderThomas Shish (until his death in December 1685), then Joseph Lawrence, Woolwich Dockyard
LaunchedJune 1687
FateBroken up 1726
General characteristics as built [1]
Class and type50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen615 bm
Length125 ft (38.1 m) (on the gundeck), 103 ft (31.4 m) (keel)
Beam33 ft 6 in (10.2 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 11 in (4.2 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Armament50 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1700 rebuild [1]
Class and type46- to 54-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen669 bm
Length128 ft 4 in (39.1 m) (on gundeck), 106 ft 9 in (32.5 m) (keel)
Beam34 ft 4 in (10.5 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 5 in (4.1 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Armament46-54 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1719 rebuild [1]
Class and type 1706 Establishment 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen710 tons
Length131 ft (39.9 m) (on the gundeck) 109 ft 6 in (33.4 m) (keel)
Beam35 ft (10.7 m)
Depth of hold14 ft (4.3 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Armament
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 18-pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 9-pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pdrs

HMS Deptford was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1687. [2] This was the second of three 50-gun ships ordered in 1682/3.

Contents

Armament

All three ships ordered in 1682/3 (all were launched in 1687) were intended to carry 54 guns each - twenty-two 24-pounders on the lower deck, the same number of demi-culverins (9-pounders) on the upper deck, and ten demi-culverin drakes on the quarterdeck. However, each was completed with just 50 guns in wartime service and 44 guns in peacetime.

Rebuilding

She underwent her first rebuild at Woolwich in 1700 (having been ordered "to repair" on 7 June 1699) as a fourth rate of between 46 and 54 guns. [1] Her second rebuild took place at Portsmouth Dockyard, where she was reconstructed as a 50-gun fourth rate to the 1706 Establishment from 1717 and relaunched on 19 June 1719. [1] She was captained in 1710 by Sir Tancred Robinson. [3]

Deptford was taken to pieces at Plymouth in 1726, and a replacement of the same name built (as a 60-gun ship) at Deptford Dockyard in 1729-1732. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714 p120.
  2. Lavery 1983, p. 162.
  3. Harrison, Simon. "Sir Tancred Robinson (d. 1754)". Three Decks - Warships in the Age of Sail. Retrieved 3 December 2013.

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