HMS Liverpool (1758)
Acrylic on board depiction of Liverpool by William McDowell
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History | |
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Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Liverpool |
Ordered | 3 September 1756 |
Builder | John Gorill & William Pownall, Liverpool |
Laid down | 1 October 1756 |
Launched | 10 February 1758 |
Commissioned | February 1758 |
Fate | Wrecked 1778 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | frigate |
Tons burthen | 589 85⁄94 bm |
Length |
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Beam | 33 ft 8½ in |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Complement | 200 |
Armament |
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HMS Liverpool was a 28-gun
Construction
Liverpool was an oak-built 28-gun
Contracts for Liverpool's construction were issued on 3 September 1756 to commercial
Liverpool's
Navy frigates were routinely fitted out and armed at
The vessel was named after the
In sailing qualities Liverpool was broadly comparable with French frigates of equivalent size, but with a shorter and sturdier hull and greater weight in her broadside guns. She was also comparatively broad-beamed which provided ample space for provisions, the ship's mess and a large magazine for powder and round shot.[c] Taken together, these characteristics would enable Liverpool to remain at sea for long periods without resupply.[8][9] She was also built with broad and heavy masts, which balanced the weight of her hull, improved stability in rough weather and made her capable of carrying a greater quantity of sail. The disadvantages of this comparatively heavy design were a decline in manoeuvrability and slower speed when sailing in light winds.[10]
Her designated complement was 200, comprising two commissioned officers – a captain and a lieutenant – overseeing 40 warrant and petty officers, 91 naval ratings, 38 Marines and 29 servants and other ranks.[11][d] Among these other ranks were four positions reserved for widow's men – fictitious crew members whose pay was intended to be reallocated to the families of sailors who died at sea.[11]
Seven Years' War
Liverpool was launched on 10 February 1758 and immediately commissioned into the Navy under the command of Captain Richard Knight. After taking on her crew, she was assigned to the Royal Navy squadron patrolling the
In March 1760 she was reassigned to convoy protection duties, between Britain and colonial outposts in the East Indies and North America.[3][13] After two years she was again reassigned, as a support vessel for the Royal Navy's loose blockade of the port of Brest. In this role Liverpool was responsible for carrying messages between the blockading ships, and watching for French attempts to leave port. On 25 April 1762, while still engaged in these duties, the frigate encountered and overwhelmed Le Grand Admiral, a privateer from Bayonne. This was Richard Knight's last engagement as captain of Liverpool; in June 1762 he relinquished his command and returned to England. In Knight's absence, Liverpool secured her fifth victory at sea with the capture of French privateer Le Jacques.[1]
Liverpool's captaincy was filled in September with the appointment of Edward Clark, formerly the first lieutenant of the 14-gun sloop HMS Fortune. War with France was drawing to a close, and by January 1763 negotiations were well advanced for the peace settlement that would be finalised in the Treaty of Paris. On 20 January 1763 Clark was ordered to sail for the East Indies with news of imminent peace. Captain Clarke committed suicide in March 1764, during Liverpool's return voyage. On reaching England, the frigate was declared surplus to the Navy's peacetime requirements, and taken to Woolwich Dockyard for decommissioning.[1]
Inter-war period
Liverpool underwent a "great repair" between March 1766 and April 1767, and was re-commissioned in March 1767. She was subsequently ordered to
American Revolutionary War
Liverpool was re-commissioned in July 1775, shortly after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. Command was given to Captain Henry Bellew, with the frigate setting sail for North America on 14 September.[1]
On 1 January 1776, she participated in the bombardment of Norfolk, Virginia with John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore as one of three English warships in his fleet. A cannonball fired from her onboard batteries is currently still lodged in the wall of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church (Norfolk, Virginia).
On 26 August 1776 she was on patrol off Nova Scotia when she encountered two American schooners, USS Warren and USS Lynch. The American vessels fled in separate directions, with Bellew electing to follow Warren. After a short chase the American schooner was overhauled and captured; she was transformed into a ship's tender for Liverpool and her crew kept under guard until September when they were transferred to HMS Milford along with Warren's guns.[14][e]
In 1777, Liverpool was added to a fleet under the overall command of Viscount Howe and was part of the advance fleet commanded by Francis Reynolds, participating in the Battle of Red Bank on the Delaware River.[15] On 11 February 1778, she was wrecked in Jamaica Bay, Long Island.[1]
40°35′25″N 73°51′16″W / 40.5902°N 73.8545°W
Notes
- ^ The exceptions to these naming conventions were Hussar, Active and the final vessel in the class, Hind[5][7]
- ^ Liverpool's dimensional ratios 3.57:1 in length to breadth, and 3.3:1 in breadth to depth, compare with standard French equivalents of up to 3.8:1 and 3:1 respectively. Royal Navy vessels of equivalent size and design to Liverpool were capable of carrying up to 20 tons of powder and shot, compared with a standard French capacity of around 10 tons. They also carried greater stores of rigging, spars, sails and cables, but had fewer ship's boats and less space for the possessions of the crew.[8]
- ^ The 29 servants and other ranks provided for in the ship's complement consisted of 20 personal servants and clerical staff, four assistant carpenters an assistant sailmaker and four widow's men. Unlike naval ratings, servants and other ranks took no part in the sailing or handling of the ship.[11]
- ^ Warren was retained as ship's tender for Milford until December 1776, when she was destroyed after running aground off Portsmouth, New Hampshire.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Winfield 2007, pp. 227–228
- ^ .
- ^ a b Winfield 2007, pp. 229–230
- ^ a b Baugh 1965, pp. 255–256
- ^ a b c d Winfield 2007, pp. 227–231
- ^ .
- ^ Winfield 2007, p. 240
- ^ a b Gardiner 1992, pp. 115–116
- ^ Gardiner 1992, pp. 107–108
- ^ Gardiner 1992, pp. 111–112
- ^ a b c Rodger 1986, pp.348–351
- ^ "Tuesday's Post". The Newcastle Courant. Newcastle, United Kingdom: John White. 26 May 1759. p. 1. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
- ^ "London". The Caledonian Mercury. Edinburgh: Walter Ruddiman, John Richardson and Company. 14 December 1761. p. 2. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Warren I (Sch)". Naval History and Heritage Command. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
- ^ McGeorge, 1905, p. 5
Bibliography
- Baugh, Daniel A. (1965). British Naval Administration in the Age of Walpole. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691624297.
- Rodger, N. A. M. (1986). The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219871.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.
- McGeorge, ,Wallace (1905). The battle of Red Bank, resulting in the defeat of the Hessians and the destruction of the British frigate Augusta, Oct. 22 and 23, 1777. Camden, New Jersey, Sinnickson Chew, printers.
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External links
- Media related to HMS Liverpool (1758) at Wikimedia Commons
- Citations of articles, books, and websites about HMS Liverpool from ShipIndex.org