HMS Pallas (1757)

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

Pallas in three positions, by John Cleveley the Elder, 1769
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Pallas
Ordered13 July 1756
BuilderWilliam Wells, Deptford
Laid downJuly 1756
Launched30 August 1757
Completed8 October 1757 at Deptford Dockyard
CommissionedAugust 1757
FateBurnt to avoid capture, 24 February 1783
General characteristics [1]
Class and type
frigate
Tons burthen728 73⁄94 bm
Length
  • 128 ft 4 in (39.12 m) (gundeck)
  • 106 ft 4 in (32.41 m) (keel)
Beam35 ft 10.75 in (10.9411 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 4.5 in (3.772 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement240 officers and men
Armament
  • 36 guns comprising:
  • Upperdeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 6-pounder guns
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Pallas was one of the three 36-gun

Jamaica Station. In 1783 she was beached on São Jorge Island
after she was found to be heavily leaking; she was burned there on 24 February.

Construction

Sir Thomas Slade, naval architect for Pallas in 1756

The Venus class of 36-gun frigates were designed by Thomas Slade, the Surveyor of the Navy and former Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard. Alongside their smaller cousin, the 32-gun Southampton class, the Venus-class represented an experiment in ship design; fast, medium-sized vessels capable of overhauling smaller craft and singlehandedly engaging enemy cruisers or privateers.[2] As a further innovation, Slade borrowed from contemporary French ship design by removing the lower deck gun ports and locating the ship's cannons solely on the upper deck. This permitted the carrying of heavier ordinance without the substantial increase in hull size which would otherwise have been required in order to keep the lower gun ports consistently above the waterline.[3] The lower deck was instead used for additional stores, enabling Venus-class frigates to remain at sea for longer periods without resupply.[4]

Armament

Pallas' principal armament was 26 iron-cast twelve-pound cannons, located along her upper deck. The guns were constructed with shorter barrels as traditional twelve-pound cannons were too long to fit within the frigate's narrow beam.[5] Each cannon weighed 28.5 long cwt (3,200 lb or 1,400 kg)[6] with a gun barrel length of 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) compared with their 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m) equivalent in larger Royal Navy vessels.[5]

The twelve-pound cannons were supported by ten six-pounder guns, eight on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle, each weighing 16.5 long cwt (1,800 lb or 800 kg) with a barrel length of 6 feet (1.8 m).[3] Taken together, the twelve-pound and six-pound cannons provided a broadside weight of 189 pounds (86 kg).[7] She was also equipped with twelve 1⁄2-pound swivel guns for anti-personnel use.[6] These swivel guns were mounted in fixed positions on the quarterdeck and forecastle.[5]

Pallas at the Battle of Bishops Court in 1760

Career

Pallas was

flag ship of Commodore Richard Howe at the Raid on Cherbourg and also participated in operations at Saint Cas between June and September. Captain Michael Clements assumed command of Pallas in around June 1759, and was still in command when she fought in the Battle of Bishops Court on 28 February 1760 where three French frigates were captured by Pallas and the frigates HMS Aeolus and HMS Brilliant.[1]

The frigate sailed to the

Portsmouth Dockyard between February and December. She was recommissioned in October under Captain John Laforey to serve in the Falklands Crisis; with the Crisis over Laforey was replaced by Captain George Watson in 1771, who sailed Pallas back to the Mediterranean on 7 May.[11]

Captain

Plymouth Dockyard between March and May 1779.[9]

HMS Experiment and Pallas in the action against the French at the action of 13 May 1779

After leaving the dockyard Pallas initially served in the English Channel to assist in defending the Channel Islands, which role culminated in the action of 13 May 1779 where a French invasion force intended for Jersey was driven ashore by a large force of British ships including Pallas, commanded by Sir James Wallace. In June the frigate left the Channel to sail for Jamaica where she captured the small Spanish frigate Diana on 11 November 1780. Captain Christopher Parker assumed command of Pallas in 1782 and sailed her home, from where she travelled to Halifax to serve as a convoy escort.[9]

Fate

Pallas soon returned from North America to serve in home waters, but while at sea off the Azores in February 1783 it was found that the ship was leaking badly and she was beached on São Jorge Island on 12 February. She was burnt there twelve days later.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Winfield 2007, p. 905.
  2. ^ Clowes 1898, p. 7
  3. ^ a b Winfield 2007, pp. 189
  4. ^ Lyon 1993, p. 62
  5. ^ a b c Gardiner 1992, p. 81
  6. ^ a b Winfield 2007, p. 191
  7. ^ "British Fifth Rate frigate 'Pallas' (1757)". threedecks.org. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  8. ^ Winfield 2007, p. 907.
  9. ^ a b c d e Winfield 2007, p. 906.
  10. ^ a b Phillips, Pallas (36) (1757). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  11. ^ Winfield 2007, pp. 905-6.

Bibliography

External links
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