HMS Cornwall (1761)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Cornwall.
History
Great Britain
Name: HMS Cornwall
Ordered: 13 December 1758
Builder: Wells, Deptford
Launched: 19 May 1761
Fate: Burnt, 30 June 1780
General characteristics [1]
Class & type: Arrogant class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1634 bm
Length: 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Depth of hold: 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • 74 guns:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

HMS Cornwall was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 May 1761 at Deptford.[1]

The ship was named in honour of James Cornewall, who had been killed at the battle of Toulon in 1744, and was initially commanded by his cousin Frederick Cornewall who lost an arm in the same engagement.[2]

She served in the English Channel until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763. After service as a guard-ship at Plymouth, she was sent to North America to serve in the American Revolutionary War. She arrived in New York on 30 July 1779 and just ten days later was in a confrontation with the French Navy. Later that year she was deployed to the West Indies where she was badly damaged in action off Grenada and again off Martinique in 1780. She was sent to St Lucia for urgent repairs, but her damage was impossible to repair due to it being too extensive.

Cornwall was deemed unserviceable and burned on 30 June 1780.[1][3]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol. 1, p. 176.
  2. Sylvanus, Urban, ed. (May 1761). "Historical Chronicle". Gentleman's Magazine (London) 31: 235–236.
  3. Ships of the Old Navy, Cornwall.

References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
  • Michael Phillips. Cornwall (74) (1761). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 1 September 2008.


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