HMS Newcastle (1653)

Last updated

Portrait of HMS Newcastle (1653) - 02.jpg
Portrait of HMS Newcastle by Willem van de Velde, 1676
History
English Red Ensign 1620.svg England
NameNewcastle
Namesake Siege of Newcastle
Ordered17 February 1652
BuilderPhineas Pett II, Ratcliffe
LaunchedMay 1653
FateWrecked, 1703
General characteristics [1]
Class and type Fourth-rate frigate
Tons burthen631
Length108 ft (32.9 m) (keel)
Beam33 ft 1 in (10.1 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 2 in (4.0 m)
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Armament44 guns (1660); 54 guns (1677)

Newcastle was a 44-gun fourth-rate frigate of the English Royal Navy, originally built for the Commonwealth of England by Phineas Pett the Younger at Ratcliffe, and launched in May 1653. By 1677 her armament had been increased to 54 guns. [1]

Sketch of HMS Newcastle by Willem van de Velde, circa 1678 Portrait of HMS Newcastle (1653).jpg
Sketch of HMS Newcastle by Willem van de Velde, circa 1678

Her first action came in 1655 when, along with fourteen other warships, she sailed into Porto Farina in Algiers to engage Barbary Pirates. This action resulted in the destruction of the entire pirate fleet, which won the Newcastle lineage its first battle honour. In 1657 she took part in Admiral Blake's daring attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and in 1665, she fought at the Battle of Lowestoft.

On 14 March 1674, [2] Newcastle, under the command of Sir John Wetwang, captured the Dutch East India ship Wapen van Rotterdam in the Battle of Ronas Voe. [3]

Prior to the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, George Churchill assumed command and Newcastle was assigned to the Channel. Shortly before Plymouth declared for William III on 18 November, Churchill entered the port for repairs but this appears to have been an excuse; Newcastle was the first significant naval defection and the rest of the fleet soon followed. [4]

Newcastle was wrecked at Spithead in the Great Storm of 1703 with the loss of 229 of her crew. [1] [5]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p160.
  2. "Londen den 3 April" [London on 3 April]. Engelandt. Amsterdamsche Courant (in Dutch). No. 15. 10 April 1674. p. 1. Retrieved 23 March 2019 via Delpher.
  3. Bruce, R. Stuart (1914). Johnston, Alfred W.; Johnston, Amy (eds.). "Part III - Replies - Naval Engagement, Rønis Vo, Shetland" (PDF). Old-Lore Miscellany of Orkney Shetland Caithness and Sutherland. VII (Old-Lore Series Vol. VIII). London: Viking Society for Northern Research: 101–103 via Viking Society Web Publications.
  4. Webb, Stephen Saunder (1995). Lord Churchill's Coup: The Anglo-American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered. Alfred a Knopf Inc. p.  343. ISBN   978-0394549804.
  5. Larn, Richard (1977). Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks. Newton Abbot, London, North Pomfret: David & Charles. p. 57. ISBN   0-7153-7202-5.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Royal Oak</i> (1674) 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Jonas Shish at Deptford and launched in 1674. She was one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun. Life aboard her when cruising in the Mediterranean Sea in 1679 is described in the diary of Henry Teonge.

HMS Surprise was the name the Royal Navy gave to the French Navy's corvette Unité after Unité's capture in 1796. Unité was launched on 16 January 1794. Surprise gained fame in 1799 for the recapture of HMS Hermione. In 1802 Surprise was sold out of the service.

HMS <i>Powerful</i> (1783) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Powerful was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She took part in the defeat of a Dutch fleet in the Battle of Camperdown in 1797, the capture of a French privateer in the action of 9 July 1806, in operations against the Dutch in the East Indies during the raids on Batavia and Griessie in 1806 and 1807, and finally in the Walcheren Campaign during 1809.

HMS <i>Monmouth</i> (1772) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Monmouth was an Intrepid-class 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Israel Pownoll and launched on 18 April 1772 at Plymouth. Being relatively compact in relation to her gun power, she was affectionately known as the "Little Black Ship".

HMS Ruby was a 40-gun frigate of the Commonwealth of England, built by Peter Pett at Deptford. She took part in actions during all three of the Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1652–1654, 1665–1667 and 1672–1674. She later served in the West Indies, and in 1683 was sent to the Leeward Islands to protect British settlements against Caribbean pirate raids. In 1687, the English pirate Joseph Bannister was captured by the crew of Ruby and brought to Port Royal for trial. She was rebuilt in 1687. She was captured by the French in October 1707.

HMS Cambridge was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1666 at Deptford Dockyard.

HMS <i>Victory</i> (1620) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

Victory was a great ship of the English Navy, launched in 1620 and in active service during the seventeenth century's Anglo-Dutch Wars. After a seventy-year naval career, she was broken up at Woolwich Dockyard in 1691 and her timbers reused in other vessels.

HMS <i>Constant Warwick</i> (1645) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

Constant Warwick was a 32-gun privateer, built in 1645 as a private venture between the Earl of Warwick and Sir William Batten. Hired for service in the Parliamentarian navy during the First English Civil War, her captain William Batten defected to the Royalists during the 1648 Second English Civil War. After her crew mutinied in November 1648, she returned to England and was purchased by Parliament on 20 January 1649. Described as an "incomparable sailer", she was noted for her sharpness and fine lines, and is considered by some as the first true frigate of the Royal Navy. Mainly used for patrolling, she was captured by the French in 1691.

HMS Dragon was a 38-gun fourth rate of the English Navy; she became part of the Royal Navy after the Restoration, built by the Master Shipwright Henry Goddard at Chatham and launched in 1647. She was the first frigate to be built at Chatham.

HMS <i>Gloucester</i> (1654) British frigate wrecked in 1682

The frigate Gloucester was a Speaker-class third rate, commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Gloucester after the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. The ship was ordered in December 1652, built at Limehouse in East London, and launched in 1654. The warship was conveying James Stuart, Duke of York to Scotland, when on 6 May 1682 she struck a sandbank off the Norfolk coast, and quickly sank. The Duke was among those saved, but as many as 250 people drowned, including members of the royal party; it is thought that James's intransigence delayed the evacuation of the passengers and crew.

Sapphire was a 38-gun fourth-rate of the Commonwealth of England. After commissioning she was actively involved in the First Anglo-Dutch War participating in most major fleet actions. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War she was only in the first two engagements then spent her time in Irish Waters and the Mediterranean. She was run ashore due to a pending attack by suspected Algerian pirates on Sicily in March 1670.

HMS <i>Advice</i> (1650)

Advice was one of six 40-gun fourth-rate frigates, built for the Commonwealth of England under the 1650 Programme, she would be transferred to the navy of the Kingdom of England upon the Restoration of the monarchy in May 1660. During her time with the Commonwealth Navy she would fight in two major fleet engagements of the First Anglo-Dutch War, this being the Battle of Portland and the Battle of the Gabbard. After the Restoration she would be involved in the Second Anglo-Dutch War specifically the Battle of Lowestoft and the St James Day Battle. She would also be present at the attack on the Vile or better known as Holmes Bonfire. She would see action against the Algerines at the Battle of Bugia. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War she would do battle at the Battle of Solebay, The Battle of Schooneveld and the Battle of Texel. She would also do battle against the French at the Battle of Bantry Bay. She would see service in both the West and East Indies before being rebuilt at Woolwich.

HMS <i>Centurion</i> (1650) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Centurion was one of six 40-gun fourth-rate frigates, built for the Commonwealth of England under the 1650 Programme, she would be transferred to the navy of the Kingdom of England upon the Restoration of the monarchy in May 1660. When commissioned she partook in the First Anglo-Dutch War. After the first war ended she was in the Mediterranean fighting the Algerines at the Battle of Santa Cruz. She fought the battles of Dover, Portland, the Gabbard, and Scheveningen. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War she partook in the battles of Lowestoft and Orfordness. Following the second war she spent her time either in North America or the Mediterranean. She was wrecked in a storm in December 1689.

HMS Assistance was one of six 40-gun fourth-rate frigates, built for the Commonwealth of England under the 1650 Programme, after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 she was incorporated into the navy of the Kingdom of England. During her time in the Commonwealth Navy she partook in the First Anglo-Dutch war being present in the battles of Kentish Knock, Portland and The Gabbard. In the Mediterranean she was present at the Battle of Santa Cruz and the bombardment of Porto Farina, In the Second Anglo-Dutch War she was involved in the Battle of Lowestoft, Battle of Vagen and the St James Day Fight. She did not participate in fleet actions after this. She spent the rest of her service life undergoing several rebuilds and plying the waters as a cruiser protecting British trade and projecting British sovereignty. After nearly 95 years of Service she was sunk as a break water at Sheerness at the end of 1745.

The Taunton was a 40-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, originally built for the Royal Navy by William Castle at Rotherhithe, and launched in 1654.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Pringle (Royal Navy officer)</span> Royal Navy admiral (died 1803)

Vice-Admiral Thomas Pringle was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ushant (1782)</span>

The Third Battle of Ushant or the action of 20–21 April 1782 was a naval battle fought during the American Revolutionary War, between a French naval fleet of three ships of the line protecting a convoy and two British Royal naval ships of the line off Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the northwesternmost point of France. This was the third battle that occurred in this region during the course of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ronas Voe</span> 1674 naval engagement during the Third Anglo-Dutch War

The Battle of Ronas Voe was a naval engagement between the English Royal Navy and the Dutch East India ship Wapen van Rotterdam on 14 March 1674 in Ronas Voe, Shetland as part of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Having occurred 23 days after the signing of the Treaty of Westminster, it is likely to have been the final battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

Wapen van Rotterdam was a Dutch East India Company East Indiaman that was built in 1666 for the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC, and was operated from 1667, twice travelling to the Indies, until its capture by the English Royal Navy's frigate HMS Newcastle on 14 March 1674 in the Battle of Ronas Voe.

Convertine was a 36-gun fourth rate vessel captured from the Portuguese by the Commonwealth of England. She was commissioned into the Parliamentary Naval Force as Convertine. During the First Anglo-Dutch War she partook in the Battle of Dungeness, Battle of Portland and the Battle of the Gabbard. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War she participated in the Battle of Lowestoft and the Four Days' Battle. She was captured during the Four Days' Battle.

References