HMS Stirling Castle (1775)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Stirling Castle.

Stirling Castle sinking in Great Hurricane of 1780
History
Great Britain
Name	Stirling Castle
Ordered	12 October 1768
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	October 1769
Launched	28 June 1775
Fate	Wrecked, 5 October 1780
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Worcester-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1377 21⁄94 (bm)
Length	159 ft (48 m) (gundeck)
Beam	44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 10 in (6.05 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	64 guns: Gundeck: 26 × 24 pdrs Upper gundeck: 26 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 10 × 4 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 9 pdrs

HMS Stirling Castle was a 64-gun Worcester class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Israel Pownoll and launched on 28 June 1775 at Chatham Dockyard. ^[1]

Stirling Castle was wrecked on 5 October 1780 on the Silver Keys, off Cap-François, off the coast of Cuba with the loss of most of her crew. ^[2] As the Massachusetts ship Aurora was sailing from Boston to Port-au-Prince she came upon the wreckage of Stirling Castle and was able to save a midshipman and four seamen. ^[3]

Citations

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 181.
2. "The Marine List". New Lloyd's List (1247). 6 March 1781.^{[ dead link ]}
3. Hepper (1994), p.59.

Bibliography

• Hepper, David J. (1994) British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. (Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot). ISBN   0-948864-30-3
• Lavery, Brian (1983) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-252-8.