HMS Preston (1757)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Preston.
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Preston
Ordered: 28 March 1751
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Launched: 7 February 1757
Fate: Broken up, 1815
Notes:
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 1745 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1044 (bm)
Length: 150 ft (45.7 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 42 ft 8 in (13.0 m)
Depth of hold: 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Preston was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard to the draught specified in the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 7 February 1757.[1]

She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War under William Hotham. On 13 August 1778, cut off from her squadron by a storm, she encountered the French 74-gun Marseillois, which she fought indecisively.

Battle of Dogger Bank

Taking part in the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781) where she was disabled, with her commander, Captain Graeme losing an arm, she was sailed back to the Thames by Lieutenant Saumarez[2]:51

In 1785, Preston was converted to serve as a sheer hulk, and she was eventually broken up in 1815.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p173.
  2. Ross, Sir John. Memoirs of Admiral de Saumarez Vol 1.

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.


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