HMS Winchester (1698)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Winchester.

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Winchester
Ordered	24 December 1695
Builder	John & Richard Wells, Greenland North Dockyard, [1] Rotherhithe
Launched	17 March 1698
Fate	Broken up, 1781
General characteristics as built [2] [3]
Class & type	50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	673 48⁄94 bm
Length	130 ft (39.6 m) (on gundeck) 107 ft 5 in (32.7 m) (keel)
Beam	34 ft 4 in (10.5 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 7 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	50 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1717 rebuild [4] [5]
Class & type	1706 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	710 34⁄94 bm
Length	131 ft 4 in (40.0 m) (gundeck) 108 ft 7 in (33.1 m) (keel)
Beam	35 ft 1 in (10.7 m)
Depth of hold	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion	Sails
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 Winchester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, one of eight such ships authorised by the Navy Board to be newly built (six by commercial contract and two in the Royal Dockyards); the others were the Hampshire, Dartmouth, Salisbury, Worcester, Jersey, Carlisle and Tilbury. The contract for the Winchester was signed with shipbuilders John and Richard Wells in 1696, for the ship to be built in their yard at Greenland North Dockyard, in Rotherhithe, and she was launched there on 17 March 1698. ^{[2] [3]}

She docked at Plymouth on 10 July 1716 to be rebuilt there by Master Shipwright John Phillips in accordance with the Navy Board instruction of 8 March 1716, to the 1706 Establishment, and was re-launched on 10 October 1717. The Winchester was hulked in 1744, and served in this role until 1781, when she was broken up at Chatham Dockyard. ^{[4] [5]}

She was captained from 1712 to 1714 by Sir Tancred Robinson. ^[6]

Notes

1. Rankin, Stuart (July 2004). Shipyards, Granaries and Wharves, Maritime Rotherhithe, History Walk B. London: Southwark Council. ISBN   0-905849-37-X. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011.
2. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714, p.136.
3. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 164.
4. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792, p.143.
5. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 168.
6. "Sir Tancred Robinson (d. 1754)" . Retrieved 3 December 2013.

References

• 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.
• Winfield, Rif (1997), The 50-Gun Ship: A Complete History. Chatham Publishing (1st edition); Mercury Books (2nd edition 2005). ISBN   1-845600-09-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84832-040-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2007) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84415-700-6.